The Willamette Valley & Wine Country - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 492

Sights
Willamette Heritage Center MUSEUM
( 503-585-7012; www.willametteheritage.org ; 1313 Mill St SE; adult/child 6-17yr $6/3;
10am-5pm Mon-Sat) This interesting 5-acre complex houses grassy gardens, two gift
shops, a clutch of pioneer buildings and two museums.
The Mission Mill Museum , the Jason Lee House (1841), the John Boon House
(1847), the Methodist Parsonage (1841) and an old Presbyterian church (1858) all
look pretty much as they did in the 1840s and 1850s. The Thomas Kay Woolen Mill was
built in 1889 and was powered by a mill race (waterway), a section of which still runs
through the grounds. Free access to museum grounds.
Oregon State Capitol LANDMARK
(900 Court St NE) The state's first capitol building burned down in 1855, and a
domed classic-Roman edifice was built to replace it. Unfortunately, that building also
burned down (in 1935), and the current capitol building was completed in 1938. Bauhaus
and art-deco influences are apparent, especially in the strident bas-relief in the front
statuary and the hatbox-like cupola. The building is faced with white Danby Vermont
marble, and the interior is lined with rose travertine from Montana.
The most notable features of the capitol are four Works Progress Administration-era
murals lining the interior of the rotunda. There's also a galleria with changing exhibits,
plus a cafe. Surmounting the capitol building's top is the gleaming Oregon Pioneer , a
23ft-high gilded statue depicting a stylized, early male settler.
Free tours are offered daily; call ahead to check schedules. In spring and summer you
can also take a 'Tower Tour,' which goes up 121 spiral steps to the rooftop (weather per-
mitting).
Willamette University UNIVERSITY
( 503-370-6267; www.willamette.edu ; 900 State St) Just south of the capitol, Willamette
University was the first university in the western USA and is well respected for its
liberal-arts undergraduate program and law school. The Visitor Information Center has a
walking-tour leaflet of the university.
The oldest remaining building on the campus is Waller Hall , built between 1864 and
1867. The Hallie Ford Museum of Art (900 State St; adult/under 12yr $3/free; 10am-5pm
Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sun) houses works from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, along
with the Pacific Northwest.