4 Best Sights in Washington Wine Country, Washington

Central Washington Agricultural Museum

Fodor's choice

This fascinating, underrated living history museum is quite a sight to see, with rows and upon rows of antique farming equipment, including more than 150 tractors donated by families that have been farming the Yakima Valley for generations. This sprawling property is devoted to preserving the region's agrarian heritage, with additional exhibits that include pioneer-era homesteads and cabins, a vintage railroad boxcar, a vintage gas station, a blacksmith shop, a sawmill, and many more buildings. Just south of Yakima in one of the state's oldest towns, Union Gap, the museum occupies a good chunk of 15-acre Fullbright Park and offers access to trails along Ahtanum Creek and up into the high-desert hills. The grounds are open year-round, even when the buildings are closed.

Kittitas County Historical Museum

The six galleries in this excellent regional history museum set inside the opulent Victorian Cadwell Building showcase one of the state's better pioneer artifact collections, ranging from Native American basketry to early-20th-century carriages. There's also an impressive collection of historic photos.

Northern Kittitas County Historical Society Museums

The local historical society preserves two distinct aspects of the town's colorful history. At the three-story 1914 Carpenter House Museum, you can view rotating art exhibits and see furnishings, clothing, and historical documents that belonged to some of the community's founding families. A few blocks away on Cle Elum's main drag (221 East 1st Street, closed early September–late May), the Telephone Museum contains the manual switchboard that the town used until 1966 (the town was one of the last in the nation to switch to automated telephone exchanges), as well exhibits on the history of telephone technology and memorabilia related to the area's vibrant mining heritage.

Recommended Fodor's Video

Yakima Valley Museum

Exhibits at this history museum on the west side of town focus on Yakama native, pioneer, and 20th-century history, ranging from horse-drawn vehicles to a "neon garden" of street signs. Highlights include a beekeeping exhibit, a wealth of Yakama Tribe art and artifacts, and a model of Yakima native and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas's Washington, D.C., office.