The Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals is a non-profit museum in

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many high-technology companies, ...

, United States. Located just north of the Sunset Highway on the northern edge of Hillsboro, the

earth science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

museum is in the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, ...

. Opened in 1997, the museum's collections date to the 1930s with the museum housed in a home built to display the rock and mineral collections of the museum founders. The ranch-style home is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, the first of its kind listed in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. In 2015 the museum became a

Smithsonian Affiliate Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational stra ...

museum. The museum sits on 23 wooded acres (9.3 ha), with the main building containing of space. Collections include petrified wood, various fossils,

fluorescent Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...

minerals,

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

zeolite Zeolites are microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a metal ion or H+. These pos ...

s, and a variety of other minerals. With more than 20,000 specimens, the museum is the largest of its kind in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. The facility has around 25,000 visitors each year.

History

Richard L. Rice married Helen Hart in 1932 and the couple began rock collecting in 1938 after finding

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Ancie ...

s along the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...

.Colby, Richard N. “Tour of time: An open house will make it easy to take in the county’s hidden treasures, historic and otherwise, in one swoop”, ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', April 23, 1998, West Zoner, p. 1 In 1952 the Rices built a new home north of Hillsboro on 30 acres (12.1 ha) that would later house the museum.Mandel, Michelle. “House of rock”, ''The Oregonian'', March 1, 2007, Metro West Neighbors, p. 12 The Rices founded a museum in 1953 to display their collections.Campbell, Polly. “Family museum on foundation of rock”, ''The Oregonian'', October 18, 2001, Southwest Zoner, p. 2 Their collections won them the Woodruff Trophy twice (1958 and 1961) and this award was permanently awarded to Richard and Helen in 1961. Helen served as president of the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies from 1959 to 1960.Mandel, Michelle. “Splendid stones: free for the seeing”, ''The Oregonian'', October 6, 1998, p. B2 In 1996 the Rices established the non-profit museum. Richard and Helen Rice both died in 1997 with the home passing to the non-profit museum as part of their estate. In 1997 the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals officially opened. In June 2000, 94 pieces from the F. John Barlow collection of crystallized gold were added to the museum.Phan, Aimee. “Low-key museum rocks in Hillsboro”, ''The Oregonian'', July 5, 2000, p. C2 The facility opened an exhibit in 2001 dedicated to the

lapidary Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A la ...

arts, and by that time the museum had grown to more than 4,000 items. The museum opened a new gallery in January 2003 to feature

petrified wood Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. ''P ...

. Rudy W. Tschernich was named curator in June 2003, replacing Sharleen Harvey. In 2004 the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

loaned the museum 52 meteorites in an exhibit funded by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

. Attendance had grown to around 15,000 in 2004.Hansen, Ellen
“Museum aims to spread the word about rocks”
, ''

The Portland Tribune The ''Portland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area. Launched in ...

'', November 8, 2005 In 2005 the North America Research Group unearthed the fossilized remains of a

thalattosuchian Thalattosuchia is a clade of marine crocodylomorphs from the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous that had a cosmopolitan distribution. They are colloquially referred to as marine crocodiles or sea crocodiles, though they are not members of Cro ...

crocodile from the Jurassic period in

Central Oregon Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards the ...

. The museum plans on displaying these fossils after they are studied. Later in 2005, the Northwest Minerals Gallery opened in a former storeroom at the museum after renovations totaling $150,000. By 2007 the museum received 25,000 visitors each year, mainly from school groups. In August 2008 the museum opened a retail gift shop in

The Streets of Tanasbourne The Streets of Tanasbourne is an outdoor shopping mall located in the Tanasbourne area of Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in October 2004, the center provides shopping to the Hillsboro/ Beaverton area west of Portland, near the Su ...

shopping center, and closed it in December 2009 due to the economic recession. This satellite gift shop was to be a temporary endeavor, and was designed in part to help drive traffic to the museum. By 2010 the museum's collections had grown to more than 20,000 specimens, and still had about 25,000 visitors annually, with about 18,000 coming from school field trips. Tschernich stepped down as curator in 2011, with Lara O'Dwyer-Brown taking over the position in 2012. Brown left in 2014, with Julian Gray hired as executive director and Leslie Moclock as curator in May 2014. Leslie Moclock left the museum in 2018, and Julian Gray resigned to take over the curator position. Garret Romaine was named the executive director on an interim basis pending the hire of a new director, scheduled for 2020. Aurore Giguet took over as the executive director with the museum in 2020.

Collections

The museum is the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest with more than 20,000 items. The specimens come from around the world, many personally unearthed by the Rices.Mandel, Michelle. "New museum shows off rockhounds' bounty", ''The Oregonian'', February 19, 1998, p. E2 Bill Dameron of ''The Mineralogical Record'' named the museum as having the best mineral specimens in the

. The collections include gemstones, minerals, fossils, meteorites, and some artifacts.Baron, Connie. "Downtown Hillsboro: Summer may be winding down, but kids can still find fun activities", ''The Oregonian'', August 30, 2007, Metro West Neighbors, p. 18 Gemstones include

rubies A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sap ...

, diamonds,

rhodochrosite Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate mineral with chemical composition MnCO3. In its (rare) pure form, it is typically a rose-red color, but impure specimens can be shades of pink to pale brown. It streaks white, and its Mohs hardness varies bet ...

opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms ...

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

, and

amethyst Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that t ...

among others. Fossils include shark teeth,

coprolite A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name is de ...

s, or fossilized dung, petrified wood, dinosaur eggs,

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

s, and a baby dinosaur of the genus ''

Psittacosaurus ''Psittacosaurus'' ( ; "parrot lizard") is a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Asia, existing between 126 and 101 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich non-avian dinosaur gen ...

''. Around 1,000 of the specimens at the museum are only viewable using a microscope. One gallery, the Rainbow Gallery, is designed to showcase rocks and minerals that have phosphorescent or fluorescent elements that allow them to glow in the dark. An automated system uses a lighting cycle that includes ultraviolet lights to energize the rocks. A large portion of the petrified wood comes from the collection of Dennis and Mary Murphy. Their collection, which is in excess of 450 items and includes a log of

white oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...

weighing 1,200 pounds (544 kg), was combined with the Rice Museum's existing pieces. The log is from

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

and is estimated to have lived more than 15 million years ago. The petrified wood specimens come from Oregon, Washington, and as far away as Argentina and Australia. Other fossils include those of

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...

s, palms, and ferns. The main rhodochrosite attraction is the "Alma Rose" from the

Sweet Home Mine Sweet Home Mine is a mine near Alma, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1873 as a silver mine. It is best known as the source of the famous rhodochrosite crystals "Alma King", displayed at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and "Alm ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. The Alma Rose includes crystals measuring up to 9.5 cm in length along with quartz and calcite highlights. The Rices once owned the complementary "Alma King" rhodochrosite from the same mine, but sold the piece to the

Coors Brewing Company The Coors Brewing Company started as an American brewery and beer company in Golden, Colorado. In 2005, Adolph Coors Company, the holding company that owned Coors Brewing, merged with Molson, Inc. to become Molson Coors. The first Coors brew ...

, who then donated it to the Denver Natural History Museum. The two stones had been purchased by the couple for US$800,000. Other rhodochrosite specimens include those from mines in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. The museum also has a collection of 107 gold pieces from the F. John Barlow collection featuring items such as a 42 troy ounce (1.31 kg)) leaf and pieces mined from the Ace of Diamonds mine in

Liberty, Washington Liberty is a small unincorporated community in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. Following the discovery of gold in Swauk creek in 1873, Liberty was one of several gold-mining camps that sprang up. The Swauk creek discovery is notab ...

. One of the museum's pieces, a

sperrylite Sperrylite is a platinum arsenide mineral with the chemical formula and is an opaque metallic tin white mineral which crystallizes in the isometric system with the pyrite group structure. It forms cubic, octahedral or pyritohedral crystals in a ...

from Russia, is considered one of the finest in the world. Alma Rose front

Individual items on display include coprolite from

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, a 500-pound (227 kg) piece of the lightweight volcanic rock

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vol ...

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

. One specimen on display is a wide plate with clear quartz crystals,

epidote Epidote is a calcium aluminium iron sorosilicate mineral. Description Well developed crystals of epidote, Ca2Al2(Fe3+;Al)(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH), crystallizing in the monoclinic system, are of frequent occurrence: they are commonly prismatic in habi ...

crystals measuring as large as 10 cm and translucent calcite scalenohedrons, and comes from Green Monster Mountain on Alaska's Prince of Wales Island. The collection includes a

fossil dating from the

Jurassic era The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

that weighs 500 pounds (227 kg). One meteorite is the Gibeon meteorite which weighs 210 pounds (95 kg) and came from the African nation of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. The world's largest known opal-filled

thunderegg A thunderegg (or thunder egg) is a nodule-like rock, similar to a filled geode, that is formed within rhyolitic volcanic ash layers. Thundereggs are rough spheres, most about the size of a baseball—though they can range from a little more than ...

, weighing 1.75 tons (1600 kg), is housed at the museum. The thunderegg is Oregon's state rock. Other items include

azurite Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the Type locality (geology), type locality at Chessy, Rhône, Chessy-les-Mines near ...

, Oregon

sunstone Sunstone is a microcline or oligoclase feldspar, which when viewed from certain directions exhibits a spangled appearance. It has been found in Southern Norway, Sweden, various United States localities and on some beaches along the midcoast of ...

, amber, copper crystals,

morganite Morganite is an orange or pink gemstone and is also a variety of beryl. Morganite can be mined in countries like Brazil, Afghanistan, Mozambique, Namibia, the United States, and Madagascar. Morganite has grown in popularity since 2010. ''Brides ...

, and

among others.

Programs

The Rice Museum offers a variety of public programs. It once hosted an annual summer festival with events such as thunderegg cutting and demonstrations of gold panning. The facility has hosted the Northwest Fossil Fest.“Free fossil fest offers activities for adults, kids”, ''The Oregonian'', August 8, 2007, p. C9 The museum also offers tours for school groups and other community groups. These events will resume if staffing and funding increase.

Facilities

The museum and grounds are located on the north side of the Sunset Highway west of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

between the Helvetia Road and Jackson School Road exits.Knudsen, Jenn Director. “North of Hillsboro – The quieter side of the city”, ''The Oregonian'', October 26, 2008, p. S5 Situated on of mostly forested land, the museum is housed in the historic Richard and Helen Rice House, built as a single family residence.Trappen, Michelle. “Close-in sun and fun: A stone's throw away”, ''The Oregonian'', July 3, 2008, Metro West Neighbors, p. 10 Completed in 1952, the home was built of Arizona flagstone on the exterior and wood native to Oregon, including curly maple and myrtlewood. William F. Wayman designed the structure with Victor Batchelar building the home, while Charles F. Walters designed the grounds.Oregon Historic Sites Database: Site Information: Rice, Richard & Helen, House.
Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved February 7, 2009 All the wood was logged by Richard Rice, who made his living as a logging contractor. He also milled the wood. The home was designed to allow the basement to serve as a museum for the Rices' collections. The structure contains three sandstone fireplaces, and the countertops are finished with hand-painted tiles from Mexico. Myrtlewood is used inside as trim and for doors. Bedroom closets were constructed with drawers, shelves, and ironing boards built-in. Inside the two-level building are amenities such as

dumbwaiter A dumbwaiter is a small freight elevator or lift intended to carry food. Dumbwaiters found within modern structures, including both commercial, public and private buildings, are often connected between multiple floors. When installed in restaur ...

s and a sewing room. On the outside raked cedar was used on the eaves of the low-pitched roof-line building. The exterior sandstone is tan, rose, and blue in color. The home with a basement cost $185,000 to build. Flooring in the museum was replaced in 2021 after a detrimental flood. The original blue

linoleum Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), Pine Resin, pine resin, ground Cork (material), cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most com ...

in the basement that features the museum's logo of a shovel and a pick were preserved thanks to generous volunteer work and donations. The

ranch style home Ranch (also known as American ranch, California ranch, rambler, or rancher) is a domestic architectural style that originated in the United States. The ranch-style house is noted for its long, close-to-the-ground profile, and wide open layout. ...

was the first ranch home listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon. In addition to the house, which has a full basement, the museum uses a separate building as a gallery. That building, the Northwest Gallery, was formerly used for storage and as a shop, but looks similar to the Rice House. This gallery focuses on items from Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, and includes collections of agates, thundereggs,

s, and

placer gold Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed (alluvial) deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit (also called open-cast mining) or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for pr ...

, among others. Before opening to the public in 1997 an elevator was added to the home. The museum includes a Community Room, Resource Library, Fossil Gallery, Rainbow Gallery, Special Exhibits, Education Room, Petrified Wood Gallery, Main Gallery, and Pacific Northwest Gallery. There is also a gift shop, while the outside grounds include a walk that features sandstone, columns of basalt, a 1,200 pound (540 kg) rock made of pumice, and the Rock Pile activity in which visitors are invited to take a rock home.

References

External links

Smithsonian Magazinevia magazineOregon Museums AssociationHillsboro Chamber of Commerce
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