Upon entering the old depot one walks into the railway museum - visitor section, surrounded by artefacts, displays, photographs, signs and documents, all railway related. Part of this section is set up as a stationmaster's office. Elsewhere in the museum is a model train setup, depicting local rail yards, the town, a lumber yard and hardrock mines in the nearby mountains.
A second, slightly larger, section of the museum deals with local cultural, agricultural, and industrial history. Here, there is also a section dealing with Native American history, in particular that of the
Colville Tribes, whose reservation is one of the largest, if not
the largest in the State of Washington.
Ostensibly the museum has a large section that is changed every year, so your experience may vary. Admission is free and donations are gratefully accepted.
In a yard at the rear of the depot are more, larger, artefacts, including retired Great Northern caboose fraudulently numbered X202, a weird lumber carrier, several pieces of agricultural equipment and a number of smaller railroad and farm related items.
Old Oroville Depot Museum
The Oroville Depot was built in 1907 by Great Northern and was used as a depot until the 1970s. It was moved to this location in 1982 and has been used as a historic museum of railroad and local history since then.
Oroville Historical Association - Okanogan County Historical Society
Funded by Okanogan County Tourism Council
From a plaque at the building