Our Mission

To collect, interpet, safeguard and display significant items from Bainbridge Island's colorful past.
To foster a knowledge of local hisstory through educational programs.
To support historical preservation on Bainbridge Island. To operate the 1908 schoolhouse Museum and Historic Research Library.

The Society began as an informal group in the 1930s, meeting in peoples homes. In 1949, its members joined the newly formed Kitsap County Historical Society as the Bainbridge Island branch. Elnora Parfitt was elected president and later became Museum Director. In 1971, the Bainbridge Island School District board voted to donate the former Island Center schoolhouse to the Society for use as a museum. The schoolhouse, built in 1908, was one of the Islands last one-room schools in operation when it closed in 1923 and had been moved to the high school to be used as a band and choir room.

The Bainbridge Island Park District gave the Society permission to move the building to Strawberry Hill Park, site of a former U.S. Army Nike missile base, built during the Cold War to defend the Bremerton Naval Shipyard from Soviet bombers.

It wasnt long before the Museum was bursting at the seams with collections material donated from the community. In 1997, through the generosity of the McCracken family, a building was added to the rear of the schoolhouse for collections storage and workspace for the Museums Curator and staff. Though Strawberry Hill Park was a serene site for the Museum, many people could not access it with ease and a central location was sought. In 2003, the City of Bainbridge Island granted the Society a 90-year lease on a parcel of land on Ericksen Avenue one block north of Winslow Way in the Islands downtown hub.

In September, all of the Museums artifacts and material were packed up, and the staff was relocated to a temporary office a block north of the Museums future site. In early 2004, the Museums two buildings were moved to the new site (see Our Move page for details and images). We reopened to the public on August 28th, 2004!

From an informal group gathering in members homes to a staff of five, membership of over 600, and a volunteer workforce of over 40 individuals! The Museum consists of a 1908 schoolhouse, home to long-term exhibits. An annex building houses our extensive research library, office space, amenities, and a rotating exhibit gallery. An atrium lobby, with a gift shop and reception desk, joins the one-room schoolhouse to our modern annex building. A 1,000 square foot basement encompasses collection storage and workspace. We recently relocated our buildings to a more visible and accessible central location at 215 Ericksen Avenue NE, creating a cultural corridor along with City Hall and the Bainbridge Performing Arts playhouse in the downtown Winslow district.