What Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center does

Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center (MHIC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural heritage organization founded in 2008 and headquartered in Joseph, Oregon, with a mailing address in Enterprise, Oregon. The organization is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of Maxville, a segregated railroad logging community in Wallowa County that existed from 1924 to 1933, where African American, Indigenous, and immigrant loggers and their families lived alongside white workers during a period of Oregon's exclusion laws. MHIC has acquired 240 acres of the original Maxville townsite and maintains a visitor center, oral history archive, traveling exhibits, and educational programming.

The organization's core products include the Timber Culture traveling exhibit (a 20-piece physical and digital exhibit that has been displayed at the World Forestry Center, Oregon Historical Society, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, Oregon State Capitol, and McMenamins venues), the Annual Maxville Gathering (now part of the Woodlands and Watersheds Festival co-hosted with Wallowa Resources), guided Maxville Townsite Tours, the Youth-to-Elder oral history program, the On to Higher Ground musical play, and educational partnerships with Whitman College, Oregon State University, Eastern Oregon University, and Clatsop Community College. The Maxville Townsite Heritage Easement Project, conducted with Hancock Timber and college partners, focuses on physical preservation of remaining structures.

MHIC generates revenue through a tiered membership program ($10-$1,000 annually across seven tiers), individual donations, an Honorary Acre land stewardship program, foundation grants (Kinsman Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, Ford Family Foundation, WildHorse Foundation, Pacific Power Foundation, PacifiCorp Foundation, State Historic Preservation Office), gala fundraising ($40/person Seeding Hope Gala), and merchandise sales (historically inspired baseball jerseys priced $55-$75). The organization operates with 5 employees and is governed by an independent board of directors.

Name

Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center

Legal name

Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center

Website

https://maxvilleheritage.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Joseph, Oregon that preserves the history of a multicultural logging community where African American, Indigenous, and immigrant loggers worked in segregated camps during the 1920s-1930s, through oral history archives, traveling exhibits, educational programs, and stewardship of 240 acres of the original townsite.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Museum Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Historical Sites (712120), Libraries and Archives (51921)

akta.pro primary industry

Historic Preservation & Landmarks Conservation (BPAGAHAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF)

Keywords

• Heritage preservation services
• Cultural museum exhibits
• Historical education programs
• Oral history archives
• Community heritage events

Headquarters

HQ city

Joseph

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership program with multiple tiers ranging from $10/year (student/senior) to $1,000/year (Old Growth level). Provides benefits including previews to exhibits, appreciation events, publications, newsletters, and 10% off gift shop purchases.
2. Donations and Land Acquisition Programs: General donations to support mission, scholarship fund donations, and the Honorary Acre Program where donors contribute to land stewardship at the 240-acre Maxville townsite.
3. Merchandise Sales: Sale of Maxville Heritage Memorabilia including historically inspired baseball jerseys ($55-$75), with customization options available.
4. Gala and Event Fundraising: Annual fundraising events including the Seeding Hope Gala with $40 admission and auction items.
5. Grant Funding: Funding from foundations including Kinsman Foundation ($25,000 for theater), Oregon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, Ford Family Foundation, and various local sponsors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center gathers, preserves, and interprets the history of African American, Indigenous, and immigrant loggers in the multicultural railroad logging community of Maxville, Oregon. Its core offerings include traveling and digital exhibits, oral history collection and archives, guided townsite tours, educational partnerships with regional schools and universities, an annual heritage gathering, a musical theatrical production, townsite preservation and land stewardship, and an online memorabilia store.

Product overview

Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center operates as a heritage museum and educational organization offering a portfolio of programs centered on preserving and interpreting the history of the multicultural railroad logging community of Maxville, Oregon. The core offerings include the Timber Culture Traveling Exhibit (a 20-piece physical and digital exhibit), the Annual Maxville Gathering (annual festival), oral history collection with video/audio recordings, Maxville Townsite Tours, Youth-to-Elder Program, Educational Partnerships with regional colleges and K-12 schools, and the theatrical production 'On to Higher Ground.' Supporting offerings include the Maxville Townsite Heritage Easement Project for physical preservation, an online memorabilia store, and scholarship programs. The organization maintains a visitor center in Joseph, Oregon and owns 240 acres of the historical Maxville townsite land.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Timber Culture Traveling Exhibit

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Wallowa ResourcescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2017, MHIC has partnered with Wallowa Resources to co-host the Woodlands and Watersheds Festival. This is now where the Annual Maxville Gathering takes place. Held at Wallowa County Fairgrounds in Enterprise, Oregon, hundreds gather to learn and share at the event.
• Forest Capital Partners, LLCcoreOthersForest Capital Partners owns the original Maxville townsite land. The company leases the site to a local family and MHIC is working with FCP to access and research the town, seeking a heritage easement to preserve the site.
• Hancock TimberminorOthersPartner in the Maxville Townsite Heritage Easement Project working with MHIC on a plan to preserve remaining original structures on the Maxville townsite.
• Eastern Oregon UniversitycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner in the Maxville Townsite Heritage Easement Project. University classes helped examine and document the cabin's measurements and ascertain feasibility of moving the cabin following preservation standards.
• Clatsop Community CollegeminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner in the Maxville Townsite Heritage Easement Project. College classes helped with documentation and preservation planning for the cabin relocation.
• Whitman CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental Studies Department coordinates several field study programs in Wallowa County with MHIC involvement. Students participate in tours at the Maxville site and learn about archive care.
• Oregon State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGraduate school programs during Fall Rural Studies program visit Maxville. Students participate in tours and learn about MHIC archives care from visiting curator.
• FishtrapminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Youth-to-Elder Program. Interviews will be featured in public presentations at Fishtrap, along with senior living center, Rotary Club, and Maxville Mobile Museum at Eastern Oregon University.
• Tamástslikt Cultural InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocated on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. MHIC's traveling exhibit was displayed there in 2019, and collaboration resulted in expanding the exhibit to include tribal historical and present day forestry practices.
• Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduced the documentary 'The Logger's Daughter' as part of the Oregon Experience series. OPB also featured MHIC on Think Out Loud program and various other segments.
• National Trust for Historic PreservationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured in Preservation Magazine (Fall 2014) and The Forum quarterly magazine (Spring 2012). Six-page article and imagery of Maxville descendants was published.
• U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, Congressman Greg WaldencoreOthersBipartisan bill sponsored to transfer ownership of former US Forest Service ranger station to City of Wallowa for use as cultural center by MHIC.
• The Beauty ShopminorGTM or Marketing PartnerStrategic creative agency based in Portland, Oregon that has created marketing content for MHIC programs and events.
• City of WallowacoreOthersCity working with MHIC to create a visitor's center to highlight cultural history of the area. Mayor Philbrook invited MHIC to move to Wallowa in 2011.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wing Luke Museum: National Smithsonian-affiliated Asian Pacific American museum in Seattle with a strong focus on multicultural heritage, immigration, and social justice narratives. Shares MHIC's model of using exhibits and oral histories to tell under-told cultural stories.
• High Desert Museum: Regional natural and cultural history museum in Bend, Oregon covering the high desert's people, land, and wildlife. Comparable as a Pacific Northwest cultural-history museum with exhibits, educational programming, and a physical visitor site.
• Northwest African American Museum: Seattle-based museum preserving African American history and culture in the Pacific Northwest. Directly comparable as a regional African American heritage organization with exhibits, educational programming, and oral history collections.
• World Forestry Center: Forestry-focused museum and education center in Portland. Hosted the Timber Culture exhibit and shares MHIC's Pacific Northwest forestry history mission, making it a directly comparable cultural-heritage organization with overlapping subject matter.
• Timber Heritage Association: Nonprofit dedicated to preserving historic logging and lumber heritage in the Pacific Northwest (notably the Arcata and Mad River Railroad). Shares MHIC's mission of preserving logging community history and artifacts.
• Josephy Center for Arts and Culture: Joseph, Oregon arts and culture center where MHIC relocated its office and exhibit space in 2013. Directly comparable as a small rural cultural-heritage organization serving Wallowa County.
• Tamástslikt Cultural Institute: Tribal cultural center on the Umatilla Indian Reservation that preserves and interprets Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla history. MHIC collaborated with Tamástslikt to expand Timber Culture into tribal forestry practices, making them a strong direct peer in cultural-heritage museum operations.

Broad incumbents

• Oregon Historical Society: Statewide historical society and museum in Portland. MHIC has partnered with OHS for hosting the Timber Culture exhibit and co-hosting the Maxville Gala, and OHS operates at the same intersection of Oregon history, exhibits, and education.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation: National nonprofit that preserves historic places and has featured MHIC in Preservation Magazine and The Forum. A broader incumbent operating in MHIC's historic preservation space at national scale.

Others

• Oregon Cultural Trust: Statewide nonprofit that funds and advocates for Oregon's cultural organizations. MHIC is part of the same Oregon cultural-heritage ecosystem and benefits from the trust's funding and promotional programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/events
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maxville-heritage-interpretive-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center