Bainbridge History Museum

Bainbridge History Museum Preserving and sharing the diverse stories of BI to better understand our community and the world. Currently open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-4pm

The Bainbridge History Museum works to preserve and share the diverse stories of Bainbridge Island to promote a greater understanding of our community and the world in which we live.

We can't wait to see you TONIGHT for First Friday! Come and check out your local History Museum!
06/05/2026

We can't wait to see you TONIGHT for First Friday! Come and check out your local History Museum!

06/05/2026

What is history to you? Is it a trade or an industry? Is it the tethers that connect Bainbridge Island to places all over the world?

Bainbridge Island's lumber and timber industry played an enormous role in our community's history. From establishing our island's early identity as a lumber community to the two sprawling lumber mills that drew thousands of people to work and live here, lumber and timber left an indelible mark on Bainbridge Island. Although the mills have shut down and homes have replaced milling equipment, this legacy continues to define much of Bainbridge Island's history and heritage today.

📸 Images courtesy of the Robert Ross Collection, Freda Adams Collection, Sandra Adams Collection, and the Bainbridge History Museum Photographic Collections, Bainbridge History Museum

We’re honored to be featured in PNW Bainbridge Magazine for our newly launched Oral History Kit Project! This initiative...
06/04/2026

We’re honored to be featured in PNW Bainbridge Magazine for our newly launched Oral History Kit Project! This initiative is designed to help preserve the stories, memories, and experiences that make Bainbridge Island such a special place.

The Oral History Kits were made possible through the generous support of the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island. Every memory shared helps enrich our community’s historical record and ensures that future generations can learn from the people who lived it. If you, or someone you know has memories of Bainbridge Island that you’d like to preserve, we’d love to hear from you! Please send us a message at [email protected].

Read the full article in PNW Bainbridge Magazine and learn more about the project here:
https://www.pnwbainbridge.com/digital-issues/summer-2026----digital-issue

Thank you to PNW Bainbridge Magazine for helping us share this project, and to the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island for making it possible.

Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island

We can't wait to see you this Friday! Come check out the Museum after hours this Friday 5:00-7:00pm!
06/03/2026

We can't wait to see you this Friday! Come check out the Museum after hours this Friday 5:00-7:00pm!

✨Trivia Answer: 1991✨The city of Bainbridge Island was officially incorporated as a city in 1991, but its municipal root...
06/03/2026

✨Trivia Answer: 1991✨

The city of Bainbridge Island was officially incorporated as a city in 1991, but its municipal roots go back much further. Winslow became a city in 1947 and served as the island's commercial and civic center for decades. However, in 1991, Winslow annexed the rest of Bainbridge Island, unifying the entire island under one local government. Later that year, the city was renamed Bainbridge Island, creating the city residents know today.

Winslow remains home to the ferry terminal connecting Bainbridge Island to Seattle and a bustling waterfront corridor that reflects the community's maritime heritage.

đź“–Trivia Tuesday is heređź“–Do you know your Bainbridge Island history as well as you think you do? Comment your best guess ...
06/02/2026

đź“–Trivia Tuesday is heređź“–
Do you know your Bainbridge Island history as well as you think you do? Comment your best guess below and we'll post the answer tomorrow!

Are you a person who likes to take a step back and think about things? Well, we are inviting you to take a step forward ...
06/01/2026

Are you a person who likes to take a step back and think about things? Well, we are inviting you to take a step forward and get a closer look at history!

As part of our new MicroHistory series, we're sharing shots of what historical artifacts look like under a microscope. Join us each week and see what history looks like up close and personal and see if you can guess which Bainbridge Island artifact is on view!

What do you think this picture shows?
A: a metal tool
B: a bone fragment
C: an anchor

Spring has arrived at the museum and in our gift shop too! 🌷Stop in and check out our Block Life buildable flowers and a...
05/29/2026

Spring has arrived at the museum and in our gift shop too! 🌷

Stop in and check out our Block Life buildable flowers and adorable flower pins, perfect for gifting or adding a little spring to your day. Come grab yours while they bloom!

We are open daily 10am-4pm

As we conclude Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we honor the history, resilience, and cultural legacy...
05/28/2026

As we conclude Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we honor the history, resilience, and cultural legacy of the Indipino community of Bainbridge Island.

The Indipino community traces its roots to the 1930s and 1940s, when 36 Indigenous women from 19 different tribes across Canada, Alaska, and Washington State came to the island to pick berries for Japanese American farmers. Many of these young women, some still teenagers, met and married Filipino men who had also come to work on the island’s farms. Together, they raised the first generation of Indipino children.

These children grew up immersed primarily in Filipino culture and traditions. Ilocano, a Filipino dialect, was commonly spoken at family and community gatherings, and many children identified as Filipino American or Asian while attending school. Many of their Indigenous mothers were survivors of government-mandated Indian residential schools and assimilation policies. To protect their children from potential discrimination and persecution, Indipino children were not often encouraged to identify as Indian, and their mothers’ tribal languages, cultural practices, and traditions were seldom discussed or practiced in the home.

Beginning in the 1980s, many adult Indipinos began reclaiming and embracing this side of their heritage, reconnecting with their mothers’ tribal affiliations and honoring both their Indigenous and Filipino roots. Today, the Indipino community remains an important part of the cultural history and legacy of Bainbridge Island.

Image 1 depicts a photo taken by Gilbert Almazan at Arlene Corpuz's 1st birthday party featuring many members of the Indipino Community. Courtesy of the Gina Corpuz Collection, Bainbridge History Museum.

Image 2 depicts the Indipino Community's first Honor Thy Mother Pow Wow in the early 1990s. Courtesy of the Gina Corpuz Collection, Bainbridge History Museum.

✨Trivia Answer: John Fay✨John P. Fay, a lawyer from a prominent East Coast family, was among the early figures who helpe...
05/27/2026

✨Trivia Answer: John Fay✨

John P. Fay, a lawyer from a prominent East Coast family, was among the early figures who helped shape Seattle’s growth in its formative years. He arrived in Seattle with his wife, Alice Ober Fay, just before the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 and quickly built a thriving legal practice centered on fire-related claims and rebuilding efforts. His work soon expanded into real estate, corporate law, railroads, shipping, and mining, and he became regarded as one of Washington’s most successful attorneys and investors.

A gifted and persuasive speaker, he earned the nickname the “silver-tongued silver Republican.” Beyond his law practice, Fay played an active civic role. In 1897 he was appointed to the University of Washington Board of Regents and later became its President. A strong believer in “sound mind in sound body,” he helped bring athletics to the university and was responsible for helping build its first gymnasium. He retired from law in 1915 to focus on business interests and donated his extensive law library to the University of Washington.

Fay amassed considerable wealth through real estate, mining, and shipping investments, but the 1929 stock market crash sharply reduced his fortune. Although he still held significant property, including land on Bainbridge Island, it became increasingly difficult to maintain, leading him to sell portions of his holdings while retaining a small family parcel.

He died unexpectedly in 1930 and for years afterward, his family continued to use the Bainbridge property, including their summer home “Faybrooke,” named after the family’s ancestral estate in England. It remained a cherished gathering place for generations.

With the help of State Senator Gertrude Johnson, the remaining acreage was sold to the State of Washington in 1944 for $5,000, on the condition that the park retain the Fay name in his honor. That land became Fay Bainbridge State Park, preserving both its shoreline and a piece of Washington’s early history.

Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce

Address

215 Ericksen Avenue NE
Bainbridge Island, WA
98110

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+12068422773

Website

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