**Pacific Martime Heritage Center curator Sachiko Otsuki points to a display in the Currents exhibit, which showcases the different waves of immigration that have shaped Lincoln County.** (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle)

The Pacific Maritime Heritage Center in Newport has several exhibits to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.

There’s Oregon Voices, which is a traveling exhibit from Oregon Historical Society about Oregon after World War II, an exhibit detailing the 60 years of sister city friendship Newport has with Mombetsu, Japan and Currents of Lincoln County, which showcases the waves of immigration that have shaped the central Oregon coast.

**Traditional Mexican embroidered dresses are on display at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center as part of its Currents of Lincoln County exhibit.** (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle)

Currents uses artifacts to tell Lincoln County’s immigration story. There’s a diary of a woman who traveled the Oregon Trail, a Chinese whiskey bottle, a Japanese headstone and traditional Mexican garments, among other items.

Railroad construction brought 500 Chinese contract workers who camped along the railroad between Corvallis and Yaquina in 1881. But the following year many Chinese workers were barred from working due to the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Lincoln County saw a wave in Mexican immigrants when they were first hired at the fish plants in the 1980s. While Mexican people make up the biggest group of immigrants in Lincoln County, Guatemalan immigrants have steadily grown since the 2000s, according to the exhibit.

The exhibit is meant to show the waves of immigration, but also how like a current — there is a push-pull with immigrant acceptance, said curator Sachiko Otsuki. Throughout history there will be a push to employ immigrants and then an act or sentiment of exclusion, she said.

“The group may change, but the attitude doesn’t,” Otsuki said.

The Currents exhibit will be on display until October.