Our Mission
The Jefferson County Historical Society is dedicated to recording, preserving and promoting the history of Jefferson County.
Museum Project
The historical society is hard at work turning the iconic Methodist Church in Madras, built in 1908, into a new Jefferson County Museum. We purchased the building in 2025 and have been raising funds to restore the original plank siding, update the interior, install a new HVAC system, and eventually to equip a museum.
The original county museum was in the old county courthouse on Fourth Street in Madras, but the county deemed that structure uninhabitable in 2012. Since then, the society’s collection has been in storage. We are eager to bring a museum back. An opening date has not yet been established as there is much work and fundraising to do, but we are “targeting” an opening in 2027 or 2028.
To make a financial contribution to the Museum Project, please donate here. If you have questions about the museum, please contact us.
The Jefferson County Historical Society is working to restore the historic Methodist Church in Madras, built in 1908, and transition it into a new Jefferson County Museum. The JCHS has obtained various grants and continues to seek funding for the restoration, remodeling and eventual set-up and operation of the museum.
Our History … in brief
- Jefferson was originally part of Crook County, established in 1881.
- Madras was plotted in 1902 and the community voted to incorporate in 1910.
- The railroad’s arrival transformed Central Oregon. Madras was the first town in the region reached, on Feb. 15, 1911.
- Jefferson County was established in 1914; Culver was initial county seat until countywide vote made it Madras on Jan. 1, 1917.
- The North Unit Irrigation District was formed in 1916.
- The North Unit project construction finally starts in 1938.
- The Madras Airport was the site of an Army Air Base during World War II.
- Culver-born Navy pilot Rex Barber shot down Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, the mastermind of the Pearl Harbor invasion, in 1943.
- Portland General Electric built Pelton and Round Butte dams in 1957 and 1964, respectively, creating Lakes Simtustus and Billy Chinook.
- Local farmers made Jefferson County the “Mint Capital of the World” during the late 1960s and 1970s.
- Crooked River Ranch, now the state’s largest subdivision, began selling lots in 1972
- The controversial Rajneesh commune operated from 1981 through 1985.
For a more detailed overview of our county history, click here.
First water delivery to Madras on North Unit Canal, 1943.
A bustling Madras in the early 1960s, just prior to adoption of couplet traffic system.
At the fairgrounds …
Since the 1970s, the JCHS has maintained the Homestead House at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. The house was donated by the Farrell Family of Gateway. In the 1980s, a former schoolhouse was brought to the area on the southwest corner of the grounds as well.
In the summer of 2026, the historical society erected the Glover House at the site as well, creating a homestead community of sorts for all visitors to view. The Glover House, a former homestead dwelling, came from the Grandview area, and was donated by Portland General Electric.
The Farrell House, above, and the former Opal Springs schoolhouse, below, have for decades been showcased at the southwest corner of the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, making up a homestead village of sorts. The historical society maintains the treasurers and hosts tours during the county fair. A new addition to the village went up in 2026, the Glover House, a structure originally from the Grandview area. Portland General Electric provided the historical society with the wood from the structure and historical society members and volunteers rebuilt it. There is also a large collection of homestead era farm equipment on site.
During the fair, the historical society conducts tours of the buildings.
Adjacent to the homestead and school, lovers of old farm machinery can enjoy a fine collection of horse-drawn and early motorized implements, including a very rare, locally-built 1900s water-wagon, and probably one of the only horse-powered “stump-pullers” (for clearing fields of juniper trees) still in existence.
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