The Yakima Valley Museum shall always be one of central Washington’s crown jewels, unequaled for providing high-quality, engaging, accurate and educational, cultural and natural history exhibitions and programs for all.

We conserve our stories to inspire our community, learn from our past, celebrate our present, and guide our future.

The Yakima Valley Museum has achieved prestigious peer recognition. It is one of only three museums in Eastern Washington to be fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and at 65,000 ft2, it is one of the largest cultural history museums in the State.

Community-based campaigns have raised virtually all the ongoing annual support since 1951, but also resulted in capital fund contributions totaling $13,937,162 (in 2012 dollars) for the construction of the current physical plant, a state-of-the-art museum facility with many special features and equipment unique to museums. Now conservatively insured at a replacement cost of $25,000,000.

The first museum opened in a log cabin clubhouse at the State Fairgrounds, but a fire several years later destroyed this “place for historical relics.”