The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum is located 1 hour from Portland Oregon, in McMinniville.  The museum traces the history of aviation from the Wright Brothers, WWI and WWII, emergence of commercial airlines, the first lunar landing, the space race of the 50’s and 60’s, and the launch of the international space station in 1998. 

Aviation Museum

As you step inside the Evergreen Aviation Museum, your first word will be “wow” as you are greeted by the awesome sight of the world’s largest aircraft, the “Spruce Goose”.  The Spruce Goose has a fascinating history, constructed by entrepreneur Howard Hughes in the 1940s as a transatlantic shipping plane to help with the English WWII effort.  Yet most visitors are probably unaware of a few interesting facts.  For example, it was only flown once, it was mostly constructed out of birch, and Howard Hughes conducted private tours of the plane for celebrity guests such as Marilyn Monroe.  Visitors to the Evergreen Museum can tour the interior of the plane to get a sense of the sheer scale of this dramatic engineering feat.

The Evergreen Aviation Museum also has a tremendous WWII collection of fighter planes like the P51 Mustang, the British Spitfire, and one of the most feared planes from any war, the German Messerschmitt.  There are also some fascinating exhibits detailing the origins of commercial flight in the US, including Henry Ford’s foray into the aviation business, with a three-engine plane proudly displaying the “Ford” logo on the tail wing, manufactured for airlines in the 1920’s.

Space Museum

The Evergreen Space Museum is housed in a separate building.  The key highlights are replicas of the “Saturn V” rocket and “Eagle” lunar module used in the first moon landing, and the Moon Buggy used in Apollo missions 15, 16 and 17.   Visitors can also peer inside the tiny interior of an authentic Mercury Spacecraft.

Important Information:

• We highly recommend the 1.5 hour tour of the Aviation Museum with knowledgeable guides. 
• Set aside a minimum of 5 hours to see both Museums, and start at the Aviation Museum.
• There’s a cafeteria at the Space Museum for lunch.
• There are four buildings, the Aviation Museum, Space Museum, IMAX and Water Park.
• For the address and opening times, see Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.
• The museum is 1-hour from Portland.

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