UMATILLA — The Umatilla Museum is looking for a few good volunteers.

Volunteer coordinator Judy Simmons and volunteer Larry Hardy said the museum’s collection is right up to where it should be, but getting enough community volunteers to receive and guide visitors has been a challenge.

“This is strictly a volunteer group,” Hardy said. “There’s no paid staff. That’s why we desperately need to take on more volunteers anytime.”

The museum is at 911 Sixth St., site of the town’s former city hall and police station. One of the easiest things to notice about the building is the jail cell.

“It’s the original jail when the building was constructed in the 1940s,” Hardy said. “Today it’s exactly the same way as when it was built.”

‘Boys will be boys’

Simmons remembered when a pair of teenage boys visited the museum about four years ago and one became trapped behind bars.

“Boys will be boys,” Simmons said. “Luckily, one was not inside the cell, but they shut the door and it was locked for about a half hour or so to get the keys to work as it’s a very unique lock. We’ve fixed it now so that those doors will not lock. You can put somebody in the jail and take a picture of them, but they’re not locked in.”

Simmons said the museum has a picture on the wall of the jail’s last inmate before the police station closed.

“He had just two weeks to serve on his sentence,” Simmons said. “Rather than send him to Pendleton to finish his sentence, they just let him serve out his sentence here, but they didn’t lock him in. He could leave at will. He could sweep sidewalks or wash city police cars or do community service work until his term was up.”

It seems oddly similar to the character of Otis in “The Andy Griffith Show” from 1960s TV.

You might say the museum’s collection was built around the jail, since it didn’t have to be brought in, but everything else did, after the building was purchased in 1992 to become the city’s museum, according to Hardy.

‘Something for everyone’ collection

“One of the first displays is about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and how they came nearby on their way down river,” Simmons said. “In a corner we have a display of veteran items with uniforms representing each branch of the service on the wall. We have a display of old tools. Next to that is a display from the old Army chemical depot when it still had igloos.”

Simmons said the collection has a lot of sports items.

“In the back room there’s an old-style kitchen with a cook stove, dishes and whatnot,” Simmons said. “In the next room there’s a display of old jars, and a display of the Umatilla Sun newspaper and memories of the old Umatilla Hospital. We also have a display of old women’s dresses. There’s a history of the fire department on the wall.”

Simmons said local schools are included with a robotics display and an alumni room.

Simmons said American Indian culture is in the collection, “and there’s a corner dedicated to the railroad, and pictures of McNary Dam when it was being built.”

She said one of the more interesting displays dates from the time Umatilla had a female mayor and all six city council members were female.

“It was the first city in Oregon to have an all-female city council,” she said.

The museum has a page on the city of Umatilla’s website, www.umatilla-city.org, which says the museum hours vary by season. The best strategy might be to give a call to Larry Hardy prior to any visit at 541-371-9050. Hardy said if the museum happens to be closed when a visit is planned, “We’re pleased to come down and open it up.”

He said he also will help anyone wanting to volunteer at the museum.