Museums

Leavenworth is home to the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, which has been featured on CBS morning news. They have over 5000 nutcrackers spanning 2000 years. Take the tour and learn about the nutcrackers you are familiar with, as well as the history of nutcrackers. There are some very unusual old nutcrackers and some nutcrackers that can only be described as works of art.

The Upper Valley Museum and Historical Society is housed in the home of the owner of the turn-of-the-century sawmill, along the banks of the Wenatchee River. They maintain exhibits of the history of the area with artifacts from the railroads and lumbermills that were instrumental to the development of the area.

Down the road in Cashmere is the Cashmere Pioneer Village & Museum. They have a pioneer village that consists of 20 original structures brought in from throughout the area, including a school house, dentist office, general store, jail, and blacksmith shop, all from the late 1800’s. Most of the buildings were brought in and rebuilt by explorer scouts. The museum has a collection of Pioneer and Native American history. (The website is a little odd… wait awhile after you get there. After several pictures display it will finally take you to the home page with a menu so you can find your way around the site.)

A little further down the road in Wenatchee is the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center. Their exhibits interpret life in the valley of the mid-Columbia dating from the last Ice Age to today. They include a farm shop from the late 1800’s, a Victorian house, Native American history, the area apple industry and the history of the railroads in the area.