Oregon: 150 Years of Statehood; 150 Million Years in the Making

In 2009, Oregon celebrated 150 years as a state.  Oregon’s landscape has a much longer history — geological processes have been building the state's landscape for more than 150 million years!

The windows in this exhibit illustrate how geology crafted Oregon’s landscape and natural resources and continues to shape the land and lives of its citizens. The most iconic of Oregon’s landscapes — Crater Lake, Multnomah Falls, Newberry Crater, Steens Mountain, the Painted Hills, and so much more — display Oregon’s geologic splendor.

We invite you to explore these 16 windows into how Oregon's landscape was assembled during the past 150 million years — and to celebrate those who learned to read the landscape before and during Oregon’s 150 years of statehood.