Timber Culture
January 13, 2024 – April 28, 2024
Introducing Timber Culture, a traveling photography exhibition curated by the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center in Joseph, Oregon – now OPEN at the High Desert Museum!
Maxville was a logging town that once existed 15 miles north of Wallowa, Oregon. The Bowman-Hicks Lumber Company owned and operated the town from 1923-1933. Maxville had a population of about 400 residents, around 60 of them African American.
Maxville was a segregated town, meaning families were formally divided by race. The town included a school for white students and a school for Black students. Despite these laws, Maxville’s isolation encouraged the formation of interracial friendships. The exhibit’s photographs convey that unique story.
Although Timber Culture is a traveling exhibit, the Museum’s exhibitions team added their own special touches. The exhibit features historic objects from the Museum’s archival collection including a few hands-on interactives for kids like wash basins and a cross section of a massive old growth ponderosa pine tree.
Learn the history of Maxville today at the High Desert Museum! Timber Culture will be open until April 28, 2024.
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