Renton Historical Museum

The Renton Historical Museum exists to provide educational experiences to the general public through the preservation and interpretation of Greater Renton's history. Goals include the collection, documentation, preservation, conservation, and interpretation of artifacts, documents, photographs, ephemera, and historic structures relative to the cultural history of the Greater Renton area.

Renton's history museum opened in 1970 and currently maintains a growing archive and library, available to researchers by appointment only. Over 8,000 images, ranging in date from the middle 1850s to the present, are contained within the archives, a small portion of which are available here. Images from early logging activities to coal mining, Longacres race track, businesses, Boeing commercial airplanes, family albums and candid shots of residents and community activities abound within the photographic collection.

The images selected and scanned for this Web site present a visual history of Renton people, places, and activities, from the 1870s through the 1990s. They are but a sampling of the growing collection now held within the museum's walls.

Browse images in Renton Historical Museum collection