Ferndale Museum facts for kids
The Shaw Avenue side of the museum is muraled.
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| Established | 1979 |
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| Location | 515 Shaw Avenue, Ferndale, California |
| Type | History |
| Collections | Domestic, Technology, Economic Foundations, Native American, Fine Art, photographs, publications |
| Visitors | 1300 annually |
| Nearest parking | onsite |
The Ferndale Museum is a fun, non-profit museum located in Ferndale, California. It collects and shows off amazing items, documents, and papers from when the area was first settled during the California Gold Rush up to today. You can even see a working Bosch-Omori seismograph there! The museum focuses on the history of the lower Eel River Valley, stretching south to the Mattole River Valley and west to the Pacific Ocean. Its huge collection includes over 8,000 photographs, old copies of the Ferndale Enterprise newspaper, and family papers that go back 150 years.
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Discovering Ferndale's Past
The Ferndale Museum first opened its doors on September 22, 1979. Before that, volunteers spent two years fixing up an old building to make it ready for all the historical treasures. The museum has always been located on Shaw Avenue in Ferndale.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum has many cool exhibits that show what life was like long ago. You can peek into decorated rooms that look like homes and businesses from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Imagine stepping back in time!
In a Victorian parlor, you'll find a working player piano. Nearby, there are detailed miniature dollhouses that look just like Victorian buildings.
You can also see old telephone switchboards. Operators used these with corded plugs to connect callers. There are even working crank telephones to check out. Other exhibits share stories of nautical history (about ships and the sea). You can also learn about artifacts from California's very first oil well, drilled in 1865 at Petrolia.
The museum also shows how people lived and worked in the past. You can explore exhibits about farming, ranching, and blacksmithing. The history of the lumber and dairy industries in the area is also covered.
Native American Life and Art
The museum proudly displays Native American artifacts. These include beautiful baskets made by local Wiyot, Yurok, Karuk, and Hupa tribes. You'll find information explaining their history and culture. Other items include a woman's buckskin headband, hair ties used by a shaman (a spiritual leader), a smoking pipe, wrapping skin, and a gambling drum. Displays about native wildlife also help explain life during those times.
Local Art and Murals
You can see artwork from the 1860s, including paintings by portrait artist Stephen William Shaw. There are also photographs by Edna Garrett.
In 2007, a group of artists called Empire Squared from Eureka, California helped paint a large mural on the Shaw Street side of the museum. This mural shows local history and beautiful scenery.
Special Exhibits to Explore
The Bosch-Omori Seismograph
Have you ever wondered how scientists detect earthquakes? The museum has a working Bosch-Omori seismograph! This amazing machine helps record ground movements.
A Ferndale resident named Joseph Jordan Bognuda became very interested in earthquakes. He lived through the big 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which caused a lot of damage in Ferndale. He started writing to Dr. Periz Byerly and attended lectures at the University of California at Berkeley. This led to the university and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey setting up a seismographic station in Ferndale. They used a lighter Bosch-Omori seismograph, similar to one used in Berkeley.
Omori Seismographs were first created by Fusakichi Omori, a seismologist from Japan. J.A. Bosch from Strasbourg later improved them.
These seismographs have two parts. One detects movement from North to South, and the other from East to West. Each part has a pendulum that swings and a special needle. This needle draws lines on smoked paper, which is moved by a clockwork system.
The seismograph parts arrived in Ferndale from Berkeley. Joseph Bognuda and Horace Winslow from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey put it together. The Ferndale Station, called "FER," started working on January 25, 1933. It was located in what is now the Ferndale Fire Department building.
For almost 30 years, newspapers across the U.S. would contact the FER station for information about California earthquakes. Joseph Bognuda even solved a mystery! He figured out that constant wiggling lines on the seismograph were caused by heavy ocean waves nearby. This effect is now called wave-generated microseism.
The FER station stopped operating in 1962. Newer technology made it and other stations old-fashioned. The university then gave the Bosch-Omori seismograph to the city of Ferndale. In 1981, it moved to the museum, where it still records daily movements today!
The Blacksmith Shop and Forge
Step into a working blacksmith shop and forge at the museum! This exhibit shows hundreds of tools that a local blacksmith would have used. Sometimes, you can even watch live demonstrations of blacksmithing.
This complete 19th-century blacksmith shop was originally from Table Bluff, California. It has over 46 hammers, two anvils, tongs, and many other tools. It even has a forge that used coal or coke, and bellows to make the fire hotter. This shop was used from at least 1875 until 1962. You can also see 80 cattle branding irons on display.
Researching Your Family History
The museum has a special research room. Here, you can find local materials like 145 years of the Ferndale Enterprise newspaper. There are also family records, photo albums, books, and maps. You can even look through old telephone books! This is a great place to learn about your own family's history in the area.
Museum Publications and Awards
The museum creates its own books, videos, and a newsletter based on research.
One of their publications, "Letters Home," tells the story of Ferndale's involvement in World War II. In 2011, it won the Western History Association Autry History Prize. This award recognized it as the "best contribution to local history in any medium" in the United States.
How the Museum Works
In 2022, about 1,300 people visited the museum. Plus, around 750 people were museum members.
The Ferndale Museum is a non-profit organization. It gets its support from memberships, donations from visitors, other donations, and grants.
The museum has a director who is hired and managed by its board of directors. It also hires people to do original research and write its newsletter, Our Story.
See also
