Castro Valley, California

Art, Culture

The Adobe Art Gallery is a program and facility of the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District. The Adobe Art Gallery is a public fine art gallery, committed to promoting and encouraging visual arts within the District.

Palm Springs, California

Culture, History, Specialized

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that preserves, interprets, and provides access to the history and culture of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and other Cahuilla peoples.

Long Beach, California

Art, Culture, General

The American Museum of Straw Art shall exist to foster an understanding of the straw arts in all of its complexities, through various exhibitions of its cultural significance, folklore, history, technique, and shall, therefore, act as an agent of research, preservation and education to insure the survival and continuation of this artistic medium. The museum shall further acquire international examples of straw art that are in keeping with these values. Culture shall remain a key ingredient of the collection and the museum shall create, on a continuing basis, programs that show the straw arts in the context of the peoples who created them.

Angels Camp, California

Children's, Culture, General, History, Historic House, Historical Society, Natural History, Science, Specialized

This beautiful little foothill town was founded in 1848 and two years later Placer gold was discovered. Located in Calaveras County, and the home of Mark Twain's famous Jumping Frog Jubilee, Angels Camp is nestled peacefully in the Sierra Foothills between Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, just three hours from the bay area.

Lancaster, California

Culture, Natural History

The museum features an anthropological collection representing American Indians of the Californian, Great Basin and Southwestern Culture Regions.

Auburn, California

Culture, History, Library, Natural History, Specialized

Any celebration of Auburn's history would be incomplete without information on early Chinese residents, and their role in town development and growth. The Auburn Joss House, built in 1909 and located on the corner of Sacramento Street and Brewery Lane, is one of the best-known buildings in Old Town Auburn and symbolizes the role of the Chinese in local history.

Wilmington, California

Culture, History, Historic House

General Banning wanted his family to live in gracious American comfort, so he built his house in the fashion of the fine Greek Revival houses which he had seen back in Delaware. He insured that the house was grand and comfortable inside and out by filling it with elegant "Victorian" furnishings like the ones which fill the rooms today.

Benicia, California

Children's, Culture, General, History, Historic House, Library, Specialized

All of the buildings on the complex are built of native California sandstone quarried right off the site. Their massive, austere style set a precedent at the Arsenal that was followed for most of the buildings constructed in the 1850's. The Arsenal is one of only three locations where native California sandstone was used for US military installations. The other two are Ft. Sill in Oklahoma and Ft. Tejon near Gorman, CA.

Auburn, California

Culture, General, History, Historic House, Park, Science

Set on 2.3 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, the Bernhard Museum Complex includes the Bernhard residence, wine storage building, wine processing building, and a barn. Today, the residence is a Victorian era house museum, but there remain faint whispers from the structure’s Travelers Rest days.

Locke, California

Culture, General, History, Historic House

The Boarding House was built in 1909 to board the workers of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The shipping warehouse is located across the River Road. The Boarding house was later purchased by the Kuramoto family, who operated the Boarding House from 1920 to 1942. The Kuramoto family was interned during WWII and did not return to resume operation of the Boarding House after the War. In 2008 it became the Locke Boarding House, a unit of the State Park System. The exhibit and research facility are operated by the California State Parks and the Locke Foundation. It is open to the public free of charge.

Fresno, California

Church, Culture, General, History, Historical Society, Specialized

Opened in June 1993, this museum hosts rotating and permanent displays concerning African-American history and culture. Interpretive displays describe the lives and times of leading San Joaquin Valley African- American literature.

San Bernardino, California

Art, Culture, University

Anaheim, California

Art, Culture, General, History, Historic House, Library

"The Anaheim Muzeo shows what can be done to restore an abused old building to its former glory. Built and dedicated in 1908, the Muzeo structure is the only surviving Carnegie library in Orange County, and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. The Muzeo opened in October, 2007, and includes the former Anaheim History Room as the Anaheim Heritage Center and Disney Resort Reading Room. This research facility is actually a branch of the Anaheim Public Library, so in a sense the old Carnegie has been partially returned to its original purpose."

Lancaster, California

Archaeology, Botanical Garden, Culture, General, History, Historic House, Natural History, Nature Centers, Park, Science

Each spring, the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve comes alive with the seasonal surprises of the Mojave Desert Grassland habitat. The duration and intensity of colors and scents vary from year to year. The wildflower season generally lasts from as early as mid-February through May, with a variety of wildflowers creating a mosaic of color that changes daily.

San Francisco, California

Art, Culture

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in San Francisco, CA is one of more than 15,400 museums in the MuseumsUSA directory. Find an exciting museum to visit where you live or vacation today.

Los Angeles, California

Culture, History, Historic House

The Avila Adobe was constructed in 1818 by a prominent ranchero, Francisco José Avila, a native of Sinaloa, who was alcalde, or mayor of Los Angeles in 1810. Following Francisco Avila's death in 1832, his second wife, Encarnación Avila continued to live in the house with her two daughters. The Los Angeles Census of 1844 lists Encarnación Avila, age 40, as a widow living in the house with one daughter. For a brief time, from January 10-19, 1847, the adobe was commandeered as a military headquarters by the invading North American army under Robert Stockton. After Encarnación Avila died in 1855, the home passed to her two daughters, Luisa and Francisca and their husbands, Manuel Garfias and Theodore Rimpau.

Benicia, California

Culture, History, Historic House, Park

Benicia Capitol State Historic Park is the site of California’s third seat of government (1853-54). It is the only pre-Sacramento Capitol that survives. The original building has been restored with reconstructed period furnishings and exhibits. The interior includes a board-for-board reconstruction of the building’s original floor with ponderosa pine. The desks, three of which are originals from the Benicia period or earlier, are furnished with a candlestick, a 19th century newspaper, a quill pen and a top hat.

Berkeley, California

Art, Culture

Art inspires. The Berkeley Art Center is the City of Berkeley's art gallery, charged with serving our city, the Bay Area and beyond as a forum for the art of our time in all media. We celebrate art--complex, beautiful, and provocative--through compelling exhibitions, performances and educational opportunities in an exploration of the social and political concerns of our diverse community. Be inspired.

Atwater, California

Culture, History, Historic House, Historical Society

Built in 1914 for George Stone Bloss, Jr. and his wife Christine it was designed by the architect William Bedesen. Built at the cost of $11,954, the house is 4080 square feet, including the enclosed porches. The architectural design of the house reflects the background of the Connecticut born family, with the construction materials that were used being common to California.

Santa Ana, California

Anthropology, Archaeology, Art, Children's, Culture, History

The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art is one of California's largest and finest museums. Its permanent collection includes more than 130,000 objects from such diverse areas as African, South Pacific, Asian, Native American, Pre-Columbian, and Californian. In addition to its permanent collection, the Museum also presents several special exhibitions each year as well as a variety of events and programs, including films, lectures, concerts, guided tours, talks, and family programs. A few of the high profile special exhibitions include "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor," "Secret World of the Forbidden City," "Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt," "Treasures from the British Museum," "Secrets of the Silk Road," and "Ito Jakuchu: A Man with No Age."