Morgan Arts Centre

Art & History Field Trip

Take a tour of Toledo, Washington's history and appreciation for the arts with this guide created by Mike Morgan.

• 1st Stop. Cowlitz River Bridge

This is actually the fourth bridge over the Cowlitz. How many steps does it take to cross the bridge?

Next, find the pylons for the first bridge located upstream about 100 yards from today's bridge. Another bridge was for a logging railroad used a hundred years ago. Find one of its abutments at the end of Maple Street. Write a story about the early people who used one of these bridges.

• 2nd Stop. Simon Plamondon & Hudson Bay Company

Next to the bridge is an interpretive sign about the earliest white settler in the Toledo area. Read about him. You can find more on the internet. Make a drawing of the HBC coat of arms.

• 3rd Stop. The Gospodor Eagle

Located on corner of 2nd & Cowlitz Street. Read about Dominic Gospodor and his monuments and find more on the internet. Write about the eagle and the three golden statues.

• 4th Stop. "Life in the Cowlitz" mural

Located on the Post Office parking lot wall along 2nd & Cowlitz Streets. Toledo High School student Susanné Rose Maestas completed it in 2018. Kneel above the Bigfoot legs and take a photo.

• 5th Stop. Steamboat Alley

This pocket-park is located across the street from the Toledo Post Office. It was created by Jamie

Cummings, Johanna Jones, and Paola De la Concha Zindel. Read the interpretive sign about the Joseph Kellogg Transportation Co. and early river travel on the Cowlitz. Make a story about being a passenger to Toledo on one of the 14 steamboats that plied the Cowlitz River.

• 6th Stop. Rusty the Fish

Located on the corner of 3rd Street & Cowlitz Street. It was designed and welded by Ron and Victoria Smith in 2014. Name some tools and other metal items you can see. Be careful, some are sharp.

• 7th Stop. Toledo City Jail House

This is Toledo's newest pocket-park. It is surrounded by a Food Forest and Pollinator Garden designed by Brooke Acosta and Brian Dennis. Draw your idea for a mural on the Jail.

• 8th Stop. "The Gateway to Mount St. Helens" mural

Examine the giant mural created and painted by Toledo High School student Jake Morgan and his dad for his Eagle Scout project in 1994. Draw your favorite part. Find out what "Skye Village" was.

• 9th Stop. City Art & Water Tank Mural (Located north of Toledo High School on Hwy 505) Johanna Jones directed the creation of the Water Tank Mural, designed and painted by Rolf and Peter Goetzinger in 2017. Describe what you see in the painting. (Hint: read the interpretive sign Klahowya Tillicum.) The Blue Spruce panels were painted in 2019 by Toledo High School students Jaclyn Halberg, Eva Kuoppala, and Elizabeth Tanninen. Find out who is the famous artist they copied.

* Note to Parents. This mostly walking activity will allow you and your kids to discover the long and rich history of Toledo. Have your kids make a Toledo Art & History Journal.

Here are some ideas: copy down information from the interpretive signs, take photos, draw pictures, do some creative writing, write poems, make measurements and do some math.

For more info call City Hall (360) 864-4564.

The Morgan Arts Centre is located at 190 Plomondon Rd., just north of Toledo, Washington, 98591.