In 1948 a group of citizens concerned with keeping the history of the Applegate Trail and the Rogue Valley alive founded the Josephine County Historical Society. Interest in establishing a Josephine County Historical Society was renewed in 1959, Oregon's Centennial year. Then on August 15, 1960 in the historic Masonic Hall in Kerby the first annual meeting was held. In 1997, the Research Library was settled into a relocated house donated by The Ken Roberts Company and renovated with generous help from the community. Both facilities are situated on Southwest 5th Street; the House Museum is on the corner of 5th and "J" Streets and the Research Library is next door on the corner of 5th and "K" Streets, a few short blocks from the "G" Street Historical District.