The Winlock Historical Museum in the town's 1914 firehouse, with red doors and a white rooster statue

Winlock Historical Museum

Photo: Angela Hart via Google Maps

In downtown Winlock, a small town in south Lewis County, the Winlock Historical Museum fills the town’s 1914 era firehouse and jail. You will know it by its red and white front and the oversized rooster standing guard outside.

Lewis County’s tourism office describes the recently restored museum as a showcase for the area’s roots in the timber and poultry industries. It is a small, local museum, the kind of place where a single object can open up a whole chapter of a town’s story, and it makes a fine companion to a stop at Winlock’s giant egg.

What You’ll See

The collection gathers the everyday history of Winlock and the surrounding farm and timber country. Highlights noted by HistoryLink include:

  • Timber history. A 1930s business ledger from a local lumber mill and logging equipment from the era when sawmills drove the local economy.
  • Farm life. Tools once used by a large animal veterinarian.
  • Main Street memories. Outdoor signs from local businesses and a collection of historic photographs.

In 2021, after the Renegade Rooster, a private collection of artifacts in town, closed, the museum launched a grassroots fundraising drive to acquire that collection and keep it in Winlock.

The Story Behind It

Winlock was platted in 1873 on land first known as Grand Prairie. The town took its name at the suggestion of General William Winlock Miller, who promised a bell for the first church or schoolhouse built there. By the early 1900s it had several sawmills, and by 1922 HistoryLink reports it was the second largest egg producing city in America, shipping eggs to distant markets under the Winlock name.

That egg heritage is still celebrated every year. Winlock’s Egg Day festival began on August 13, 1921, when residents marked the completion of a new road with a big celebration, and the town decided to make it an annual event. The museum preserves the story behind all of it.

Tips for Your Visit

  • The museum has no website and no listed phone, so check its Facebook page for open days before you go.
  • Egg Days, the town’s summer festival generally held in June, is a good time to visit. The museum opened its doors during the festival in 2025.
  • Do not miss the Winlock Egg. The giant fiberglass egg stands in Vern Zander Memorial Park near Kerron Avenue and the train tracks. The current egg dates to 1991 and is the fourth since the first was built in 1923.

Plan Your Visit

Address: 400 NE 1st St, Winlock, WA 98596
Phone: None listed; message the museum through its Facebook page
Website: Winlock Historical Museum on Facebook
Hours and admission: Check the museum’s Facebook page for current open days before you visit.
Directions: View on Google Maps