San Mateo County History Museum facts for kids
The San Mateo County History Museum, located in the Old Courthouse
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| Former name | San Mateo County Historical Museum |
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| Established | 1935; Relocated in 1999 |
| Location | 2200 Broadway, Redwood City, CA |
| Type | History |
| Accreditation | AAM |
| Visitors | 53,000+ annually |
| Public transit access | Walking distance from the Redwood City Caltrain station |
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San Mateo County Courthouse
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| Area | 1.4 acres (0.57 ha) |
| Built | 1910 |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 77000340 |
| Added to NRHP | December 13, 1977 |
The San Mateo County History Museum is in Redwood City, California. It's inside an old courthouse built in 1910. The museum shows the amazing history of San Mateo County and nearby areas. The San Mateo County Historical Association (SMCHA) runs and funds the museum.
The museum opened in its current spot on February 6, 1999. Before that, from 1963 to 1998, it was at the College of San Mateo. The old courthouse building is a great example of the City Beautiful Movement (1893-1920). It has a beautiful stained-glass dome. Many believe it's the biggest of its kind on the West Coast.
The SMCHA also manages two other museums. These are the Woodside Store and the Sánchez Adobe Park.
Contents
Museum History
The San Mateo County Historical Association started in 1935. Dr. Frank Stanger, a history professor, was an early member. He taught at San Mateo Junior College, which is now the College of San Mateo. Thanks to his efforts, the San Mateo County Historical Museum began in a college classroom in 1941.
As the college grew, so did the museum. In 1998, the Historical Association decided to move the museum. They wanted a bigger place that was easier for people to visit. So, they moved it to the old courthouse in downtown Redwood City. The museum grew from 6,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet. Between 1998 and 2006, over $20 million was spent. This money helped restore and update the building, both inside and out.
Museum Programs
The San Mateo County Historical Association is best known for its main museum. It also runs the Woodside Store and Sánchez Adobe historic sites. In 2016, they held school programs for almost 20,000 children. These programs took place at their three locations and Folger Stable in Woodside.
The museum also lets people use its research library. Here, you can look through its archives. The museum's collections have about 420,000 items. These include both flat items and 3D objects. They also plan special learning programs every month. These are for both adults and children. The San Mateo County History Museum often changes its exhibits. It also publishes a journal called La Peninsula. Finally, it helps protect historic places all over San Mateo County.
Museum Exhibits
Permanent Exhibitions
- Nature's Bounty: This exhibit shows how early people used natural resources. It explains how these resources helped build San Francisco.
- Journey to Work: Pioneering Patterns of Growth: This part tells how transportation changed San Mateo County. It went from a wild area to a suburban place.
- Living the California Dream: This exhibit uses special lighting and videos. It shows how the idea of suburban life in California changed over time.
- Land of Opportunity: The Immigrant Experience in San Mateo County: This exhibit shares the stories of immigrants in the county. It covers their arrival, challenges, and how they kept their traditions.
- Maverick's: Learn about the history of the San Mateo County coast. It explains the science behind the huge 40-foot Maverick's wave. You can watch surfing videos and even try a "waverider" to feel like you're surfing.
- San Mateo County History Makers: Entrepreneurs Who Changed the World: This exhibit highlights local business leaders. These people invented new things and started companies. Their ideas have changed lives around the world.
Select Temporary Exhibitions
- 2019 – Our Story (February 18 - October 27, 2019): This exhibit had two parts. Transformation of a Courthouse showed how the "Old Courthouse" changed over 160 years. It included pictures of the four courthouse buildings. 20 Years in Redwood City highlighted what the History Museum did in its first 20 years at the "Old Courthouse."
- 2016 – Experience the West: Sunset Cover Art: This showed the history of Sunset magazine covers.
- 2016 – Fight the Bite: This exhibit looked at 100 years of fighting mosquitoes. This happened on the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula.
- 2016 – Highlights the Charles Parsons' Ships of the World exhibition: This featured 24 model ships made by hand. It also taught about the history of maritime activities in San Mateo County. This included boat building and shipping.
- 2016 – Let's Play Ball: This showed rare baseball items from San Mateo County.
- 1999 – Grizzlies: The California King: This exhibit was about the history of grizzly bears in San Mateo County.
Other Historic Sites
The Historical Association started managing two other historic sites in 1979. The Woodside Store and Sánchez Adobe were, and still are, San Mateo County Parks. But after Proposition 13 passed, park budgets were cut a lot. So, the Historical Association stepped in to keep them open to the public. Since then, the Association has created outdoor learning programs for school groups at these sites.
Woodside Store
The Woodside Store was built in 1854. Pioneer dentist Robert Orville Tripp and Mathias Parkhurst built it. This redwood store was in the middle of the San Francisco Peninsula's logging area. For a while, it was the only general store between San Francisco and Santa Clara. The Historical Association helped save it in the 1940s. After the association took over in 1979, it was greatly restored. This work happened in the mid-1980s and finished by 1994.
Sánchez Adobe
The Sánchez Adobe is a very important historical site. It played a big role in the first three periods of California History. During Native California times, the Aramai people had a village called Pruristac here. In the Spanish colonial period, it was an important farm outpost. During Mexican times, Francisco Sánchez built his large adobe house here. He was once the Alcalde (mayor) of Yerba Buena, which later became San Francisco. His house was finished in 1846.
The Historical Association worked hard to get the county to buy the five-acre site for a park in the 1940s. Since 1978, many archaeological digs have happened here. Today, the County and the Historical Association are working together. They want to make this special place even better for visitors to learn from.
See also
