The Grant County Historical Museum was established in 1953, but the collection itself has been around much longer. A gentleman by the name of Charley Brown started building a collection of “old relics” in his service station in the early 1900s. His collection grew in both size and notoriety over several decades. In the 1950s, the Pendleton Round Up offered to buy Charley’s collection. The people of Grant County believed the history should stay in Grant County. With the support of the community, the Grant County Historical Society was able to raise enough money to buy the collection instead. For a while, the collection was homeless. The lot was donated by the town of Canyon City and the building was constructed and donated by Mr. and Mrs. Herman Oliver.

In 1953, the building finished construction and was dubbed The Oliver Museum. The first curator was none other than Charley Brown. In the 70 years since then, the name has changed to the Grant County Historical Museum and we have added much more to the collection. Though much has changed, our pioneer roots still live on.