Meeker Mansion

The Italianate Victorian home built by Oregon Trail pioneer Ezra Meeker in 1890, when the Puyallup Valley hop industry was making fortunes. The 17-room mansion is a handsome example of late Victorian domestic architecture — elaborate woodwork, wraparound porches, period furnishings — and now operates as a house museum managed by the Ezra Meeker Historical Society.

Tours are led by volunteers and cover both the architecture and Meeker's remarkable life: the Oregon Trail crossing in 1852, the hop-farming enterprise, the late-in-life campaign to mark the trail with monuments that he personally funded and placed. Open Wednesday through Sunday; check hours before visiting as they vary seasonally.

things to do museum architecture
A story
Ezra Meeker made his fortune growing hops in the Puyallup Valley, then lost it in a blight. In his seventies, broke and convinced that the Oregon Trail was being forgotten, he set out to retrace the route by ox-drawn wagon — in 1906. He repeated the journey multiple times, met presidents, and wrote several books before dying in 1928 at the age of 97. The mansion he built at the peak of his wealth still stands on Spring Street.