Yakima Valley Museum

It warmed our hearts to find a community that actively preserves its neon heritage.

Yakima Valley Museum — Neon, Apples and a Supreme Court Justice

The Yakima Valley Museum blew our socks off. We have always thought of Yakima as out in boondocks, so we were totally unprepared for the thoughtful and professionally executed displays at this rare jewel of a museum. The museum, it turns out, is the repository of the personal belongings of William O. Douglas, the controversial Supreme Court Justice and Yakima native. The reconstruction of his Washington office was so real we felt he had just stepped out of the room.

The collection of wagons, carriages and early motorized vehicles is one of the largest in the country.

The exhibit on the local apple industry was particularly notable.

We especially enjoyed the Neon Garden a collection of neon signs from the 1940’s.

Adjacent to the museum is a working exhibit … a fully functional replica of a 1930’s Art Deco fountain. It is furnished with salvage and restored parts of authentic Yakima soda fountains and offers a decadent array of malts, floats, “phosphates” and ice cream.

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A traveler. I love his title. A traveler is to be reverenced as such. His profession is the best symbol of our life.

— Henry David Thoreau —