In 1856 a group of German immigrants purchased land on the banks of the Pudding River in Marion County, Oregon, and set about creating a society in the image of the earliest Christian communities.
The new town was called Aurora after the favorite daughter of William Keil, the group's founder and spiritual leader. It was considered a colony because it grew from a similar community Keil had founded in Bethel, Missouri.
Like the more famous Shakers and the Pennsylvania Dutch “plain people,” the Aurora Colonists believed in hard work and simple living. Their work was their art; their main entertainment was their music.
Aurora quickly became famous for its hospitality, craftsmanship, fine farms and orchards, and its music. At its peak, the Aurora Colony encompassed more than 13,000 acres, and was home to about 600 members.
The communal society lasted for 25 years. William Keil died in 1877, and the Aurora Colony officially ceased to exist in 1883.
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Descendants and friends of the Aurora Colony keep its memory alive through the Aurora Colony Historical Society.
In 1955 the community celebrated the centennial of Keil's Oregon Trail emigration, and began looking for ways to preserve their heritage. In 1963, the Aurora Colony Historical Society (a private, non-profit corporation) was organized; shortly afterwards it moved into a (donated) original Colony building known as the Ox Barn for one of its many uses over the years.
In 1973, a large part of the town of Aurora was designated a historic district, the first such designated historic district in the State of Oregon. Today the town is known as a center of antique business and historical preservation.
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At present, the Aurora Colony Historical Society operates from a five-building complex at Second and Liberty Streets in the center of Aurora, and an original homestead farm located outside of town. Benefactors have made it possible to acquire and move four endangered buildings to the Ox Barn site, all of them open as part of the Museum program. The farmhouse, its barn, and five outbuildings host a living history program for area schoolchildren.
ACHS has formed alliances with a number of groups which preserve historic skills and crafts. The Willamette Valley Herb Society maintains an herb garden in the Museum courtyard. The Old Aurora Colony Quilters and the Aurora Colony Handspinners Guild host annual shows and assist in living history displays at the Museum.