The San Joaquin Valley /ˌsæn hwɑːˈkiːn/ is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton.
This is a list of museums, defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Also included are non-profit and university art galleries. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included.
To use the sortable tables: click on the icons at the top of each column to sort that column in alphabetical order; click again for reverse alphabetical order.
Museums
edit| Name | Image | Town/City | County | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| African-American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley | Fresno | Fresno | African American | website | |
| Air Force Flight Test Center Museum | Edwards Air Force Base | Kern | Aviation | websiteHistoric military aircraft and testing at the Base, located at the North Entrance, also a facility in Palmdale | |
| Arte Américas | Fresno | Fresno | Art | website, cultural arts center with exhibit galleries focusing on Mexico, Latin America, the Southwest and California | |
| Bakersfield Museum of Art |  |
Bakersfield | Kern | Art | websiteCollection focus is regional art |
| Billy Creek Museum | Huntington Lake | Fresno | Local history | website, operated by the Huntington Lake Big Creek Historical Conservancy, located in the Sierra National Forest on Huntington Lake | |
| Borax Visitor Center | Boron | Kern | Mining | website Borax mining and processing, geology, views of the open pit mine | |
| Bloss House Museum |  |
Atwater | Merced | Historic house | website Operated by the Atwater Historical Society, restored early 20th-century mansion |
| Buck Owens Crystal Palace |  |
Bakersfield | Kern | Biographical | website/ Country western music hall with museum about musician Buck Owens |
| Buena Vista Museum of Natural History |  |
Bakersfield | Kern | Natural history | website Exhibits include anatomy, astronomy, anthropology, archeology, biology, geology and paleontology |
| California Foundry History Museum – Lodi | Lodi | San Joaquin | Industry | website, Lodi Iron Works and area foundries | |
| Castle Air Museum |  |
Atwater | Merced | Aviation | website Vintage aircraft |
| Central Sierra Museum | Shaver Lake | Fresno | Local history | website, operated by the Central Sierra Historical Society | |
| Cesar E. Chavez National Monument | Keene | Kern | Biographical | website Life and work of Cesar Chavez and the farm worker movement | |
| Children's Museum of Stockton | Stockton | San Joaquin | Children's | website | |
| Clovis Museum |  |
Clovis | Fresno | Local history | website, operated by the Clovis-Big Dry Creek Historical Society |
| Coarsegold Historic Museum | Coarsegold | Madera | Open air | website, complex includes an adobe freight way-station, one-room school and the barn with museum displays of local history | |
| Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park |  |
Allensworth | Tulare | African American | website Historic farming town founded, financed, and governed by African Americans, with nine restored buildings |
| Community Heritage Center | Clovis | Fresno | Local & military history | website/ An educational experience showcasing Clovis history with a focus on recognizing the region's and nation's veteran community. Operated by the Clovis Veterans Memorial District. | |
| Dinuba Southern Pacific Depot Museum | Dinuba | Tulare | Local history | website, operated by the Alta District Historical Society | |
| Discovery Center | Fresno | Fresno | Science | website, educational science center and natural history exhibits | |
| Eagle Field AAF | Firebaugh | Fresno | Military | History of the World War II army airfield, also known as the Central California Historical Military Museum | |
| Eastern Fresno County Historical Museum | Auberry | Fresno | Local history | website, operated by the Eastern Fresno County Historical Society | |
| Escalon Historical Museum | Escalon | San Joaquin | Local history | website, operated by the Escalon Historical Society | |
| Exeter Historical Museum |  |
Exeter | Tulare | Local history | website |
| Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County | Chowchilla | Madera | Natural history | website, prehistoric life in the San Joaquin Valley during the last Ice Age, fossils, rocks and minerals, area Native American artifacts | |
| Forestiere Underground Gardens | Fresno | Fresno | Historic house | website/ Hand-built network of underground rooms, courtyards and passageways with fruit-bearing plants | |
| Fort Tejon Historic Park |  |
Grapevine | Kern | Military | website Restored mid-19th-century U.S. Army fort with living history programs on Saturdays |
| Fresno Art Museum |  |
Fresno | Fresno | Art | website, permanent collection includes over 3,600 modern and contemporary works by nationally and internationally known artists (painting, sculpture, prints, photographs, and other media) and a premiere Pre-Columbian and Mesoamerican collection. Institution includes rotating exhibitions, sculpture garden, a permanent Pre-Columbian installation, and a Museum store. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums since 1973. Founded in 1949. |
| Fresno Flats Historic Village and Park | Oakhurst | Madera | Open air | website, complex includes two restored homes, two one-room schools, two 19th Century jails and several farm buildings | |
| Giant Forest Museum | Tulare | Natural history | website, ecology of sequoias, the Giant Forest and human history of Sequoia National Park | ||
| Great Valley Museum of Natural History | Modesto | Stanislaus | Natural history | website, part of Modesto Junior College | |
| Gustine Museum | Gustine | Merced | Local history | website, housed in a former courthouse and jail, operated by the Gustine Historical Society | |
| Haggin Museum | Stockton | San Joaquin | Multiple | website Art and history, collection includes late 19th-century American and European paintings, local and regional historical artifacts | |
| Hanford Carnegie Museum | Hanford | Kings | Local history | website/ | |
| Hill House Museum | Lodi | San Joaquin | Historic house | website, operated by the Lodi Historical Society, Victorian mansion | |
| ImagineU Children's Museum | Visalia | Tulare | Children's | website | |
| International Agri-Center | Tulare | Tulare | Agriculture | website, dairy farming, agriculture, includes the Antique Farm Equipment Museum with restored antique tractors, farm implements and equipment, steam engines, history of farming and ranching | |
| Kearney Mansion Museum | Fresno | Fresno | Historic house | website, located in Kearney Park, operated by the Fresno Historical Society | |
| Kern County Museum | Bakersfield | Kern | Open air | website/ Over 50 historic buildings, includes Bakersfield Country Music Museum | |
| Kern Valley Museum | Kernville | Kern | Local history | website, operated by the Kern Valley Historical Society, includes rocks and fossils, mining and ranching artifacts, Edison hydroelectric plants, movie-making history of the area and construction of the Isabella Dam | |
| Madera County Museum | Madera | Madera | Local history | Facebook page/ Located in the former county courthouse, operated by the Madera County Historical Society | |
| Manteca Historical Museum | Manteca | San Joaquin | Local history | website, operated by the Manteca Historical Society | |
| McHenry Mansion |  |
Modesto | Stanislaus | Historic house | website Victorian Italianate mansion |
| McHenry Museum | Modesto | Stanislaus | Local history | website, includes County recorders office, a general store, recreated blacksmith shop, gold mining paraphernalia, fire fighting equipment, household furnishings | |
| Maturango Museum |  |
Ridgecrest | Kern | Local history | website/ Cultural history, natural history, and geology of the Northern Mojave Desert |
| Merced Agricultural Museum | Merced | Merced | Agriculture | information, antique farming equipment, gas engines and household appliances | |
| Merced County Courthouse Museum | Merced | Merced | Local history | website Located in the county's three-story courthouse built in 1875 | |
| Meux Home Museum | Fresno | Fresno | Historic house | website, Victorian mansion | |
| Milliken Museum | Los Banos | Merced | Local history | Facebook site, operated by the Milliken Museum Society of Los Banos California, photos | |
| Minter Field Air Museum | Shafter | Kern | Aviation | website, history of Minter Army Airfield in World War II | |
| Naval Museum of Armament & Technology |  |
Ridgecrest | Kern | Military | website Also known as China Lake Museum, naval air armaments, and technology |
| Newman Museum | Newman | Stanislaus | Local history | website, operated by the Newman Historical Society in a former Carnegie Library building | |
| Nuui Cunni Native American Intertribal Cultural Center |  |
Lake Isabella | Kern | Native American | website |
| Oakdale Cowboy Museum |  |
Oakdale | Stanislaus | History | website, saddles, branding irons, boots, spurs and chaps, ranching, rodeo cowboys and cowgirls |
| Oakdale Museum and History Center | Oakdale | Stanislaus | Local history | website, operated by the Friends of Oakdale Heritage in the mid 19th-century Sydnor-Prowse House | |
| Patterson Township Historical Society Museum | Patterson | Stanislaus | Local history | website | |
| Porterville Historical Museum |  |
Porterville | Tulare | Local history | website |
| Rand Desert Museum | Randsburg | Kern | Local history | website, area history, mining | |
| Raymond Museum | Raymond | Madera | Local history | website, also known as Charles Miller House | |
| Reedley Museum | Reedley | Fresno | Local history | website, operated by the Reedley Historical Society, Facebook site | |
| Ridge Route Communities Museum and Historical Society | .jpg) |
Frazier Park | Kern | Local history | website, operated by the Ridge Route Communities Historical Society |
| Riverbank Historical Museum | Riverbank | Stanislaus | Local history | Facebook page, operated by the Riverbank Historical Society | |
| Sanger Depot Museum |  |
Sanger | Fresno | Local history | website |
| San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum | Lodi | San Joaquin | Open air | website/ Exhibits about San Joaquin County agriculture and history, including farm equipment, period furnishings, tools, ranching equipment, early transportation, harness and blacksmith shops, one-room school, Native American exhibit | |
| Saxon Aerospace Museum |  |
Boron | Kern | Aviation | website |
| Shafter Depot Museum | Shafter | Kern | Local history | website, railroad, agriculture, and local history exhibits | |
| Sierra Mono Museum | North Fork | Madera | Native American | website, Mono tribe baskets, artifacts and culture, nature dioramas and over 100 taxidermy animals from Northern America, Asia, and South America | |
| Silver City Ghost Town | Bodfish | Kern | Open air | website, historic mining town structures including a saloon and country store, period miner's cabins, post office and general store, church | |
| Springville Museum | Springville | Tulare | Local history | Facebook site, operated by the Tule River Historical Society | |
| Stockton Field Aviation Museum | Stockton | San Joaquin | Aviation | website, Facebook Site, museum in progress, history of Stockton Field in WWII, WWII aircraft and artifacts | |
| Taoist Temple & Museum | Hanford | Kings | Culture | Part of historic China Alley, temple and museum of Hanford's Chinese history | |
| Tehachapi Depot Railroad Museum | Tehachapi | Kern | Railroad | website Rebuilt depot with railroad artifacts | |
| Tehachapi Heritage Museum |  |
Tehachapi | Kern | Local history | website, includes the Errea House |
| Thornberry Museum | Fish Camp | Madera | Local history | website/ Displays of actual tools used nearly a century ago and exhibits describing how life was for the first European inhabitants of the region. | |
| Three Rivers Historical Museum | Three Rivers | Tulare | Local history | website, Historical Museum located at entrance to Sequoia National Park | |
| Tracy Historical Museum | Tracy | San Joaquin | Local history | website, operated by the West Side Pioneer Association | |
| Tulare County Museum | Visalia | Tulare | Local history | website, operated by the Tulare County Historical Society in Mooney Grove Park, includes Native American baskets, pioneer artifacts, agriculture equipment, restored buildings | |
| Tulare Historical Museum | Tulare | Tulare | Local history | website | |
| Twenty Mule Team Museum | Boron | Kern | Local history | website/ Local history and history of borax mining in Death Valley and Boron[1][2] | |
| UC Merced Art Gallery | Merced | Merced | Art | Facebook page | |
| Veterans Memorial Museum | Fresno | Fresno | Military | website/ Uniforms, medals, weapons, photos, models, Legion of Valor honorees | |
| Wasco Historical Museum | Wasco | Kern | Local history | Facebook page | |
| Wassama Round House State Historic Park | Oakhurst | Madera | Native American | website Site used by local Native Americans as a ceremonial meeting place | |
| West Kern Oil Museum |  |
Taft | Kern | Local history | website/ |
| William Saroyan House Museum |  |
Fresno | Fresno | Historic house | website, Pulitzer Prize, Oscar-winning, writer WILLIAM SAROYAN HOUSE MUSEUM |
| Zalud House |  |
Porterville | Tulare | Historic house | website Victorian period house |
Defunct museums
edit- Castle Science and Technology Center, Atwater, closed in 2012[3]
- Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford, website, closed in 2015, collections moved to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the bonsai collection to the Shinzen Friendship Garden in Woodward Park, Fresno
- Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science, Fresno, closed in 2010[4]
See also
edit- National Register of Historic Places listings in Fresno County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Kern County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Kings County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Madera County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Merced County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in San Joaquin County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Stanislaus County, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Tulare County, California
References
edit- ^ "Twenty Mule Team Museum". Road Trippers. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ "20 Mule Team Museum". Destination Lancaster. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ "Atwater science museum closing". Published 8/22/12. Merced Sun-Star. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- ^ "The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art & Science closes its doors". Published January 12, 2010. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 8, 2014.