Telling Our Story: The Timber Industry in Early Mendocino County explores the challenges inherent to the early timber industry and the innovations and advancements that supported its rapid growth.

The exhibit introduces the Frolic Shipwreck as a catalyst of the timber industry connecting aspirational lumberman with the untouched redwood forests. Introductory text for the exhibit authored by Archaeologist Dr. Thomas Layton, provides insight to the cultural interactions taking place during this time period.

Artifacts from the Museum’s collections of Mark Walker, Jim and Ruth McNamee, and Emery Escola, convey the array of timber products extracted and exported, and illustrate evolving techniques for falling, hauling, milling and transporting lumber from 1850 -1925.