Greeting visitors to the Castle’s second story is a gallery of pioneer Clatskanie residents’ pictures, antique clothing and accessories. The second story includes the Clatskanie Historical Society’s artifacts and archives in five rooms.
The Museum’s Resource Room, once the Castle’s original owner Tom Flippin’s billiards room, is filled with hundreds of photos and documents about local history, school yearbooks, sports memorabilia, information about historic businesses and organizations, etc.
Historic clothing and accessories, a spinning wheel, treadle sewing machine, decorative trunk, and a wealth of quilts are on display in the Textiles Room.
The deconstructed top floor of the south turret shows how the carpenters of 1898 built the Castle’s most prominent features. It also serves as a display area for photographs and artifacts from the three natural resource-based industries that dominated Clatskanie’s history – logging, fishing, and farming.
Two doctors, Dr James Wooden and Dr J. Otto George, who not only provided medical services, but contributed positively to the Clatskanie community in many ways are, honored in the doctor’s room. Among the artifacts on display are Dr Wooden’s diploma and wheelchair, and Dr George’s desk, chair, and paintings.
A wealth of history is available in the archives of The Clatskanie Chief newspaper which are housed in the museum and which may be researched by visitors to the Castle by appointment. The room also contains memorabilia from the Steele family – four generations of which owned and wrote The Chief for a total of 92 years. An effort is now underway to make the archives searchable on the Internet.
The Clatskanie Historical Society 