Past

The California Historical Society is a non-profit gallery, bookstore, public research library and archive. Our mission is to inspire and empower people to make California's richly diverse past a meaningful part of their contemporary lives.

A Miwok village site on Ring Mountain has been dated to 370 BC. Petroglyph Rock is an important archeological artifact.

As you explore Kule Loklo, try to imagine the lives of the people who lived so intimately with the land. In the old days, a village like Kule Loklo would have been a busy place... acorns being pounded into meal by women with stone mortar and pestle, basket weavers chatting as they worked under the sun shade, cooking fires smoking with mussels baking or deer roasting, children laughing and playing , new dancers learning songs and steps in the dance house, hunters flaking obsidian for knife blades.

Through a diverse range of programs and cooperative efforts, with groups such as the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (Coast Miwoks) and the Point Reyes National Seashore, MAPOM seeks to promote accurate knowledge of the Coast Miwok Indians, the first people of Marin and southern Sonoma counties.

The Native American artifacts and reference materials are irreplaceable and provide a unique opportunity to learn about the local native lifeways.

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) brings together collections of art, history and natural sciences under one roof to tell the extraordinary stories of California and its people. OMCA connects collections and programs across disciplines, advancing an integrated, multilayered understanding of this ever-evolving state. With more than 1.8 million objects, OMCA is a leading cultural institution of the Bay Area and a resource for the research and understanding of California's dynamic cultural and environmental heritage.

The Miwok had dozens of small villages scattered throughout Marin and southern Sonoma Counties, including several in the vicinity of China Camp.

Established in 1858, Pierce Ranch (aka Pierce Point Ranch) was the largest of four independent ranches on the the Point Reyes peninsula in the late 1800s.

Through exhibitions and educational programs built around the expertise of noted historians and an unparalleled collection, the Museum inspires honor for the past, an understanding of the present and an imagination of the future.

The San Francisco Historical Society’s mission is to preserve, interpret, present, and disseminate historical data, information, and knowledge relating to the City and County of San Francisco so as to enhance the experience of living in or visiting San Francisco.