Josephine County Historical Society

About Us

The Josephine County Historical Society is a nonprofit focused on preserving historical artifacts and information about Josephine County. The Society operates a historic house museum, The Schmidt House, which offers guided tours, as well as a well stocked research library and bookstore.

A house built by early Grants Pass residents, lovingly called The Schmidt House, was donated to the Josephine County Historical Society. Few changes have been made to the house and it is still decorated in period fashion with most of the fixtures original to the house. It is now a museum available for tours ($10/person Tuesday-Friday 11am-3pm).

The research library is available to the public for a nominal user fee (free to members) and has a collection of books, manuscripts, family histories, maps, clippings and photographs of the history of Josephine County and Southern Oregon. Patrons may order reproductions of historic photographs for a fee. The library does not make loans to individuals, but a microfilm reader/printer and a photocopy machine are available for a small charge.

The bookshop contains a fine selection of newspapers, maps, calendars, regional history books and pamphlets. Several publications of local history have been researched and written by Society members.

Along with the many events held by the Society, the Living History Players is one of the most popular programs. Volunteers dress in period outfits and act as characters from the past. It is a great immersive program as well as lots of fun!