Poulsbo Historical Society Special Events are Free for All Ages!
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Become part of Poulsbo history and join our community wide events
to craft, learn, create, and play!
Event supplies may be limited; visit us early and often!
Scroll to see upcoming events in 2024!
Throughout the Year
Explore history through guided learning activities and displays!
Maritime Museum
This season’s feature is learning about the life cycle of salmon and how local families prepared for the long fishing season.
We also have a Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKWs) information notebook and a behavior-matching game.
Heritage Museum
Come check out the new exhibit, “Things Found in Walls,” with an interactive letter-writing display.
It’s time to start your spring planting schedules by using our Farmer’s Almanac.
Plus, learn about Poulsbo’s history of family and community-oriented activities such as baseball and field day sports.
Martinson Cabin
Learn all about early pioneer homesteading in the spring, such as raising livestock, growing food, and taking the steamer ship to Seattle to sell their wares.
Don’t forget to take home a seed packet and check out our gardening tools!
More to Explore this Spring!
Create Spring Memories
Saturday, April 27, from 11am-2pm at the Martinson Cabin. Drop in for this “come as you are” free event, which will be fun for all ages. Share stories and memories of spring time around the bay. Make a lavender “scrub” to take home, and treat yourself at the spring tea bar.
Open Mic Memories of Poulsbo!
Date & Location will be announced soon, but we invite you to share memories* from your family or neighborhood, such as raising baby chicks, preparing for Alaska fishing trips, gardening, baseball, and more.
*This program will be recorded for preservation in the PHS archives.
Summer
In the museums, on the lawn, and around the town – Interpret local tourism through the lens of history.
Maritime Museum
This season’s feature is learning about boating and life on the bay. We will have activity books and interactive displays that will please both locals and visitors.
Come visit us for information on logging, fishing, crabbing, shellfish, orcas, and Salish Sea tourism.
Heritage Museum
Learn how the Seattle World’s Fair impacted Poulsbo!
Plus, discover how Poulsbo came to be known as Viking City/Little Norway.
Martinson Cabin
Our summer activity booklets will engage visitors in learning what Poulsbo is like outside of tourism and how families have survived over time.
Front Street Lawn
Sit, play, and relax!
Leisurely glance through binders with information on the museums, as well as an interesting history of downtown Poulsbo.
Borrow from the box of toys for lawn games, such as balls and hula hoops. Supplies may change, so you’ll want to come back often!
More to Explore this Summer!
Take a Walk!
Take the Historic Downtown Walking Tour (available at all museums) for a fun-and-fact-filled adventure. Complete the accompanying response sheet and bring it back to claim your gold medal!
Pick up our new Driving Tour Map & Booklet at any of our museums and visit popular and not-so-well-known historic places. Complete the accompanying response sheet and bring it back to claim your gold medal!
Do It Like a Tourist!
Use the QR code on this website (coming soon) and visit designated local wine bars, restaurants, and breweries. Get a sweet 10% discount and conversation starter cards for you, your family, and your friends to learn fun facts about Poulsbo and its growing role as a tourist destination. Running May 1 – October 1.
Fall
Trace the growth of Poulsbo as government and military families bring new perspectives to community life.
Maritime Museum
This season’s feature is learning and activity booklets that will engage visitors in learning about the role of the sea-going services homeported locally with regard to national security, the environment, and lifesaving missions.
Informative binders will provide background on the history of local maritime women.
Heritage Museum
“PCS” (Permanent Change of Station): Learn the effects of a large military presence on a small town. Activity booklets will explore what sorts of changes the military has had on Poulsbo, from schools and housing to businesses and other community functions.
A brief questionnaire will invite families to share their stories of moving to and settling in Poulsbo. This is the first step in our upcoming “Help Us Record History” campaign.
Martinson Cabin
Assimilation will be a focus for activity booklets that examine what draws military families to settle long-term in Poulsbo and what it means to become a part of a community. It will draw on comparisons between the Martinson family immigrating from Norway and modern military families. See day-to-day living through a transient military lens.
More to Explore this Fall!
Ghosts in the Graveyard!
The date is TBD, but this fun event will be returning for a second year to explore the stories of more Poulsbo residents interred at the First Lutheran Church Cemetary in Poulsbo.
Enjoy crafts and wear your Halloween costume!
Official Opening of the Heritage Upstairs Exhibit!
Check out our new research and program areas on Saturday, November 9:
- 10am-4pm – Held on Veterans Day weekend, this event will showcase the evolution of local history and recognize the valuable contributions military families give to the quality of life in this community.
- 2pm – A brief membership meeting will celebrate the expanding and evolving history of Poulsbo and the PHS role in sharing and engaging this history with the broad community. This includes the nomination and election of Board members to begin their terms in 2025.
∗ Please reach out if you need special accommodations or have any questions.
∗ Due to weather and/or revised Covid guidelines, events are subject to change.
∗ Join in the PHS fun! Event supplies may be limited, visit us early and often!