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List of museums in the San Joaquin Valley facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The San Joaquin Valley /ˌsæn hwɑːˈkn/ 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

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 2011 Bakersfield Museum of Art Sign.JPG 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 BlossHouseAtwaterCAJan08.jpg Atwater Merced Historic house website Operated by the Atwater Historical Society, restored early 20th-century mansion
Buck Owens Crystal Palace Buck Owens Crystal Palace Front.JPG Bakersfield Kern Biographical website/ Country western music hall with museum about musician Buck Owens
Buena Vista Museum of Natural History Buena Vista Museum Exterior.jpg 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 Boeing B-29 SuperfortressCAM.jpg 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 Museum Clovis, California.jpg 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 Singleton op 800x483.jpg 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 2009-0725-CA-Exeter-Museum.jpg 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 Fort Tejon Commanding Officers Quarters.JPG Grapevine Kern Military website Restored mid-19th-century U.S. Army fort with living history programs on Saturdays
Fresno Art Museum Fresno Art Museum.JPG 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 permanenet 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 McHenryMansion.JPG 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 MaturangoMuseum.JPG 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 US Navy 030213-N-4633P-003 The U.S. Naval Museum of Armament and Technology give visitors a unique look at the developing history of modern Naval aviation armament.jpg 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 Nuui Cunni exterior closed 2023.jpg Lake Isabella Kern Native American website
Oakdale Cowboy Museum Oakdale Cowboy Museum.jpg 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 2009-0725-CA-Porterville-Museum.jpg 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 Ridge Route Communities Museum and Historical Society (Building).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 2009-0725-CA-SangerDepotMuseum.jpg 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 SaxonAerospaceMuseum 8653.jpg 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 2009-0726-CA-Tehachapi-ErreaHouse.jpg 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
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 2010-1230-Taft-OilMuseum.jpg Taft Kern Local history website/
William Saroyan House Museum The William Saroyan House-Museum.jpg Fresno Fresno Historic house website, Pulitzer Prize, Oscar-winning, writer WILLIAM SAROYAN HOUSE MUSEUM
Zalud House 2009-0725-CA-Porterville-ZaludHouse.jpg Porterville Tulare Historic house website Victorian period house

Defunct museums

See also

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List of museums in the San Joaquin Valley Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.