The best way to get to know communities - secrets and all - is to explore their museums. The following is a list of museums. Many have changing exhibits and hours.

- Chetco Valley Historical Society Museum, located at 15461 Museum Road in Harbor. For more information, those interested can call (541) 469-6651.

- Coos Art Museum is located at 235 W. Anderson Ave., Coos Bay. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday; and from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, those interested can call 267-3901.

- Coos Historical & Maritime Museum, located at 1220 Sherman Ave. at Simpson Park in North Bend, gives visitors a look at the region's diverse industries and lifestyles. The museum is open year round from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. In July and August, the museum is to be open from noon to 4 p.m. For more information about changing exhibits, those interested can call 756-6320.

- Coquille Valley Art Center is studio to a community of artists. Located 1.5 miles south of Coquille on Highway 42, the Art Center features year-round displays of works by local artists. Displays are changed regularly. For more information, those interested can call the museum at 396-3294.

- Curry County Historical Society Museum, located at the Curry County fairgrounds in Gold Beach, the museum is operated by the Curry County Historical Society. The museum has expanded into an annex and enlarged displays and interpretation of Native American history. The society also has a wealth of genealogical information on Curry families, a research department and a bookstore. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, those interested can call 247-6396.

- The Pioneer House: This community museum features exhibits of Coos County's early settlement days. Hours vary throughout the summer. The museum is open year-round by appointment only. For more information about museum hours and activities, those interested can call 439-3331.

- Port Orford Lifeboat Station: This museum and maritime interpretive center, located at the former U.S. Coast Guard station at Port Orford Heads State Park, features memorabilia from the Coast Guard station (1934-70) as well as the Navy years (1939-45). Exhibits include photographs, and a 36-foot motor lifeboat formerly assigned to the station. The museum is open April through October, Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. People also can visit the station online at http://www.portorfordlifeboatstation.org.

- Siuslaw Pioneer Museum, at the corner of Maple and Second streets in Old Town Florence, showcases early pioneer life in western Lane County, as well as Siuslaw Indian and other Native American artifacts. The museum also has compiled historical information about more than 500 families who lived in the area. The information is accessible on computers. The research library features pictures, family information and documents. The museum is open year-round except the month of January, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hours are from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, those interested can call 997-7884 or e-mail to museum@winfinity.com.

- Agness-Illahe Museum is located up the Rogue River from Gold Beach at 34470 Agness-Illahe Road, Agness. For more information about displays and seasonal hours, those interested can call 247-2014. Those who want to visit should call ahead for museum hours and display information.

- Coos County Logging Museum in Myrtle Point brings to life the county's rich history in logging with displays about the people, equipment and boom times of the 1900s. An exhibit of myrtlewood panels carved by Alexander Benjamin Warnock, depicting "The Glory Days of Logging" also is on display. The museum at the corner of Seventh and Maple streets is hard to miss with its distinctive architecture. The museum is closed during the winter and early spring. The museum's summer season begins May 27. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m Monday through Saturday, and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, those interested can call 572-2352 or 572-3376.

- Coquille River Museum is located at 270 Filmore and U.S. Highway 101 in Bandon. The museum houses 40 exhibits and more than 1,000 historic photographs. Operated mostly through volunteer efforts, the museum's hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Special tours also can be arranged. Cost is $2 for adults; members and children under 12 are free. For more information, those interested can call 347-2164.

- Marshfield Sun: This pioneer printing museum offers a turn-of-the-century collection of well maintained presses, type and historic newspapers, as well as a display of photographs of pioneer Marshfield and the Mosquito Fleet. The Marshfield Sun Building is located on Coos Bay's historic Front Street (U.S. Highway 101 North), across from the Timber Inn restaurant. Hours are from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Memorial Day through Labor Day; or by appointment. During the month of May, the museum only will be open Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, those interested can call Marshfield Sun Association President Lionel Youst at 267-3762.

- Remote Store Museum is located off Highway 42 on Remote Lane, a 42-mile drive from Coos Bay, Bandon or Roseburg. For schedule information or to make arrangements for the museum to be opened, call 572-2163.

- Umpqua Discovery Center: This Reedsport museum is located at 409 Riverfront Way. The Discovery Center has natural and cutltural history exhibits. This is a good place for children and adults to explore Native American and early explorer history through real life displays. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Oct. 1 and May 31, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from June 1 to Sept. 30. For more information, those interested can call 271-4816.

See nature indoors

The Umpqua Discovery Center in Reedsport brings visitors a taste of the natural and cultural history of the Oregon tidewater region.

Located at 409 Riverfront Way on the Umpqua River Waterfront, the center is divided into two wings - one focusing on the cultural history of the Oregon Coast and the other devoted to the area's natural history and ecosystem.

Both interactive exhibits were designed by WOW Arts and Exhibits of North Bend and feature lush, elaborate and enormous murals by Peggy O'Neal.

"Tidewaters and Time," the cultural history exhibit, is drawn largely from interviews with older Reedsport area residents, and sound clips from those oral histories are included in the exhibit.

"Pathways to Discovery - Exploring Tidewater Country," the natural history exhibit was completed earlier this year.

Though the two wings are identical in size, the new exhibit was designed to seem deceptively large in the small building.

There's also a lot to learn about the local environment in the exhibit, both in the reading and listening materials and the sights, sounds and sensations, from the texture of the tree bark to the droplets that appear on the leaves.

Center staff say repeat trips are necessary to see all of the exhibit - even after a visit that stretches several hours.

The exhibit aims to encompass the biological diversity of the Oregon Coast. Starting in the estuary on a fall morning, the trail moves into the forest and mountains in winter midday, through mountain meadows on a spring afternoon, to the dunes and beach on a summer evening.

With so much information, it's easy to see how a visitor could miss something. But one thing you won't miss are the constant animal sounds.

There is, however, one element of nature the exhibit's designers conspicuously left out - bugs.

The Umpqua Discovery Center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Oct. 1 and May 31, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from June 1 to Sept. 30. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors 65 and older, $4 for children ages 6 to 15 and free for children under 6. Families including up to three children pay $20. Special rates are available for groups of 10 or more.

For more information, those interested can call (541) 271-4816.

New museum in Coquille houses antique tools

An extensive antique tool collection donated to the city of Coquille now has a new home in the Coquille Valley Museum.

The latest museum in Coos County opened for a few days in December organized by the Coquille Valley Historical Society. The society started in June 2005 and now operates the small museum in a former sporting goods store on the corner of North Central Avenue and Second Street in Coquille.

Lee Petersen gave the extensive collection to the city and the collection joins others donations for the displays.

Joining the tools are hundreds of old photographs, printing press, fishing reels, mining artifacts and a small collection of antique bottles "mined" by Daisy the dog.

The museum is open between Memorial Day through Labor Day on Tuesday through Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. When the nearby Sawduster Theater is performing in the evenings, the museum will be open.

It is closed in January, February and holidays, otherwise it is open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

More information can be found on the Coquille Valley Historical Society's Web site.

Learn about native people

For visitors wanting to learn more about the South Coast's native American history, the Coos Bay area is a rich place to start.

The offices of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians are home to a newly developed cultural interpretive exhibit.

The exhibit includes painted murals by Lower Umpqua tribal member Pam Stoehsler, of Klamath Falls. The murals depict each of the three tribes in their ancestral surroundings in daily life routines.

Other items featured include artifacts, basketry and tool replicas.

The museum is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and is located in the tribal offices at 1245 Fulton Ave., Coos Bay. There is no admission charge. For more information, those interested can call the tribes at 888-9577.

Delve into timber past

The South Coast's history is rich with stories of hardy men who earned a living in the woods.

After the Great Depression, the timber industry on Oregon's South Coast boomed and the woods echoed with the whining of chain saws and the roar of "Timber!" as loggers felled giant conifers.

Jobs were plentiful in those woods and the logging for Douglas fir and, secondarily, Port Orford cedar, stimulated new jobs in plywood mills and later, pulp and paper production. Deep, safe harbors provided outlets for the lumber and the waterfronts provided jobs to longshoremen.

The boom lasted through the 1940s, '50s and '60s before winding down in the late 1970s. Today, remnants of that busy time can be found at the Coos County Logging Museum in Myrtle Point. Open during the summer season from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays, the museum offers visitors a glimpse of those heady days of the past. The summer season runs from May 27 through Myrtle Point Harvest Festival.

The Coos County Logging Museum at 705 Maple St. is housed in a pioneer replica of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. Erected in 1910, it is now on the National Register of Historical Places. Those interested can call 572-2352 or 572-3376 for more information.