WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. — There are some back roads where you’ll want to put on the brakes, catch your breath and savor a unique perspective on Oregon. At the Three Mile Museum, you’ll discover a word-of-mouth Washington County destination where a lifelong local hangs onto history for your enjoyment.
Winter’s hold seems firm and lasting across Oregon on a day marked by more fresh snowfall.
The snow lights up the scene across the coast range mountain foothills, while across the Tualatin Valley, the quiet times of the farming life are mostly indoors.
Tom Meier is a lifelong learner and self-proclaimed "protector" of Oregon’s past at a place you’ve likely missed.
It’s a home for one-of-a-kind farm tools that got their jobs done back in the day when ingenuity was born of necessity. Rescued items like cowboy spurs, old film projectors and even older telephones — mostly items headed for the landfill and irreverent death.
Photos from Grant's Getaways: Three Mile Museum
For decades, Meier has scoured old homesteads and family estate sales and gathered items that can leave you scratching your head.
Meier said the adventure of it all has left him eager for more.
“When you see an original and authentic antique or artifact that says ‘Oregon,’ believe me, you will know it – it jumps out at you,” he said.
Meier said that these things are better preserved at his museum than the local landfill.
“I bought one collection from a farmer who was heading to the dump and I said, ‘No, this stuff has value.’ And he said, ‘Well you get it out of here then.’ I swear if it weren’t for me, this would be buried a hundred feet in the ground and lost forever.”
There are really old political buttons and fishing stuff to catch the big ones in Meier’s massive collection of 14,000 items. It is a collection that continues to grow each day inside a place that just makes you feel good to see that someone cares this much about our past.
Meier’s friends frequently stop in at the Three Mile Museum; sometimes they show up offering donations. A neighbor and longtime friend, Jim Shores, admires Meier’s collection and his knowledge.
Shores recently offered up a unique device that had been in his family as long as he could remember, a small wooden “butter” printer that was at least a century old.
Meier was excited to see the rare item. “I’ll be honest with folks — especially if it’s got little value — but every once in a while, we get lucky. This is a real treasure, believe me, and it’s something you just can’t buy today."
“We’ve become such a throw-away society — buy it, use it for a while and throw it away," Shores offered. "But back in those days, the family kept so many things, used them until they were extremely worn out and had no value anymore.”
Tom admits to his 50 years of pack-ratting Oregon memorabilia selectively. The former grade schoolteacher is adamant that we risk losing ourselves when we lose touch with where we've come from
His Three Mile Museum is a tie that binds us with our stuff and Oregon’s past with the present.
“I like to have things that no one else has,” boasted Meier with a hearty laugh. ”How many people have a museum in the backyard? Why have these things if I can’t show them off.”
Meier’s word of mouth Three Mile Museum doesn’t require an admission fee, but it does require a reservation to visit; especially for small groups of people. Tom Meier asks visitors to contact him in advance at Thomasmeier@frontier.com
Be sure to watch the weekly half hour program of Grant’s Getaways. The show airs each Saturday and Sunday at 4pm on KGW.
For something different, you can follow my Oregon adventures via the Grant’s Getaways Podcast: Each segment is a story-telling session where I relate behind the scenes stories from four decades of travel and television reporting.
You can also learn more about many of my favorite Oregon travels and adventures in the Grant’s Getaways book series, including:
- "Grants Getaways I," Photography by Steve Terrill
- "Grant's Getaways II," Photography by Steve Terrill
- “Grant’s Getaways: 101 Oregon Adventures,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
- “Grant’s Getaways: Guide to Wildlife Watching in Oregon,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
- “Grant’s Getaways: Oregon Adventures with the Kids,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
The book collection offers hundreds of outdoor activities across Oregon and promises to engage a kid of any age.
You can reach me: Gmcomie@kgw.com