Primary Location
Nathaniel Orr came to the town of Steilacoom (Incorporated in 1854) after leaving his Virginia home. Traveling westward, he stopped in Missouri and learned how to build wagons. While stopping in Oregon, he learned fruit tree propagation in the Willamette Valley. Then boarding a steamer, he arrived at the Port of Steilacoom in 1852.
By 1857, he built the Orr House. Its ground floor was a wagon shop with his living quarters upstairs. After marrying Emma Thompson in 1868, he converted his shop into a family home. He then built a new wagon and carpentry shop (the current building) on his property nearby.
Here, he built wagons and furniture. Most of the furniture on display in the Orr Pioneer Home was made by Nathaniel or his son Glenn.
According to the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association (SHMA), Nathaniel also made and repaired tools.
During the 1920's, the wagon shop contained Steilacoom's first gas station. The faded remnant of its SHELL sign is still visible on the building's side.
SHMA aquired both the Nathaniel Orr Home and the Wagon Shop in 1974. Glenn Orr and his wife Bertha donated the buildings and their entire original contents upon Glenn's death.
The Nathaniel Orr Wagon Shop contained much of his original tools and equipment. Reconstruction of the Wagon Shop began in 1991, including a new foundation. Electricity was added in order to provide heat as was a drainage system.
During reconstruction, the entire building was taken apart, saving as much of the original boards as possible. (SHMA has photos of the process of this extensive repair.) Photos from the shop's past were used to return the wagon shop to what is referred to as a late 1880's condition. Reconstruction of the Wagon Shop ended in 1995.
Like the Nathaniel Orr Pioneer Home, most of his Wagon Shop is original and on display. Located below SHMA's Museum, the Orr Wagon Shop is open on weekends, 1:00-5:00 pm (when a volunteer is available). Few places like this offer the opportunity to view an original, complete woodshop and its tools that is more than 100 years old.
