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Thompson's Mills State Heritage Site

4.9 (13 reviews)
Closed 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Thompson's Mills State Heritage Site Museums Photos

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Greg A.

This place is very cool. The volunteer guide, Elaine was very informative and very enthusiastic. She peppered her historical narrative and explanation of the equipment with a lot of stories from people who worked there. She was also very funny. The mill started in 1858 and ran till 2004!!!! The long history of owners and how they changed over time is very interesting. Including how they worked with surrounding farmers as the mill owned pretty much the entire water rights for the Calapooia River. Elaine even went into how the state had to deal with PGE in an attempt to get out of an electrical generation contract in order to help the farmers out with water. All this water rights stuff is a very interesting western US only phenomenon. Not only did Elaine give a great tour she then took us to the basement where we could look down into the mill race and see the turbines. They are in the bottom of the race each with a drive line that comes up into the building and drive one or more large wheels with a large belts that runs various equipment throughout the building. Elaine then opened the head gate and let the water flow into the mill race which then started the wheels running the large belt. So this equipment from late 1800's, early 1900's still works and runs!!!! The only downside I want to mention is the issue with self-guided tours. In the summer the water now falls below the intake for their fire suppression system. So you cannot do a self-guided tour. You can only go inside the mill with a guided tour. So try to plan to be there at the times they do guided tours: 10am noon and 2pm. Although Elaine did take us on a tour at 3pm as well. This is a place not to be missed by anyone interested in history, machinery and equipment nerds!!!!

The silos out front of the mill...
Fredrika F.

This historic site is fascinating! Even more so if you love history, machinery, ducks, water, old buildings, chickens, gears, turbines....oh man what an amazing adventure we had today. Such an incredible piece of history, thank you Oregon Park service and all the volunteers that make this structure whirr to life. Elaine was an awesome and incredibly knowledgeable tour guide. Thank you all so much.

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Review Highlights - Thompson's Mills State Heritage Site

I can proudly say I was one of the first people (and probably the first female!) to use the new porcelain toilet in 1960 that emptied directly into the Calapooia River.

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Linn County Museum

Linn County Museum

4.8(13 reviews)
6.7 mi

We were visiting Brownsville, OR, and my wife loves to collect magnets from everywhere we go. While…read moredriving through town, we noticed the Linn County Historical Museum was open and what immediately caught our attention were the actual train cars on either side of the building. Naturally, we parked and went inside. This place is packed with history. Founded in 1962, the museum is housed in Brownsville's original railroad depot and includes six Southern Pacific railcars. The exhibits do a great job telling the stories of the region's Native peoples, Oregon Trail emigrants, Black and white pioneer settlers, and the early families of Linn County. One of the highlights was learning that one of the boxcars has been converted into a 29-seat theater known as the Boxcar Theatre. Another fun surprise was how prominently Stand By Me is recognized throughout the museum and the surrounding area. Many scenes from the movie were filmed nearby, and seeing that brought back a lot of memories from our own childhoods. Overall, this was a really cool and unexpected experience. And of course, my wife found exactly what she was hoping for, a Linn County magnet to add to her collection. Highly worth the stop if you're anywhere near Brownsville.

Loved this cute little town, it's like stepping into a hallmark movie. We passed the quilt shop and…read morethere were ladies sitting around a table talking and knitting. You don't see this kind of things these days. We loved the museum it took us back to the pioneer era. It was well maintained and so much to look at. It was great to see the actual equipment used. I highly recommend the detour to check this out!!

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Linn County Museum
Linn County Museum
Linn County Museum

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Thompson's Mills State Heritage Site - museums - Updated May 2026

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