[2] The unfinished museum building was dedicated on November 3, 1926 by Queen Marie of Romania, and was opened to the public on Hill's birthday (May 13) in 1940.

Hill imagined the structure as a ranch building amidst a 5,300-acre agricultural community that he was developing at the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge.

She gave the museum numerous small, carved ivory crucifix figures that were originally given to her by Désiré-Joseph Mercier, Cardinal Archbishop of Mechelen.

Maryhill Museum owes a profound debt to its fourth great patron, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels.

Over the years, Spreckels had acquired many objects from Queen Marie that were intended for a "Romanian Room" in San Francisco's California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

It included Queen Marie's gold throne and other unique pieces of Byzantine-inspired furniture, a replica of her coronation crown, and other objects.

Dolph was also an astute admirer of realist painting and many of the museum's most important works of art were acquired during his tenure.

Lane's gift included fur trade-era objects and many carved, woven and beaded items from the Middle Columbia River region.

A large collection of Arctic material was given to the museum in 1979 by the heirs of Harvey T. Harding, who had operated a store in Nome, Alaska, from 1899 to 1907.