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All the United States California Carpinteria Carpinteria Valley Museum

Carpinteria Valley Museum

Its vast collection details the history of this Santa Barbara beach town.

Carpinteria, California

Added By
James T. Bartlett
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Signs from the city’s past.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Signs from the city’s past.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Carpinteria Valley Museum of History.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Life size cut outs of local people illustrate the eras of Carp history.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
This exhibit features bricks from an original Mexican adobe home.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Carpinteria Valley Museum of History.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
The woodworking skills of the native Chumash Indians gave the area its name.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
This 1950s-era quilt shows many of the city’s landmarks.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Carpinteria Valley Museum of History.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Higgins fireplace.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Volunteers saved many items from the Higgins house.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
A 1920s Ford that was donated in the 1990s.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Carpinteria Valley Museum of History.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
The city once had a world-record size vine.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Located just a couple of blocks from Linden Road, the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History is a little-known secret, even in a city that’s barely 10 square miles.

The museum is surprisingly detailed inside and examines several periods of life in the Carpinteria Valley. Visitors are taken through the initial beginnings with the native Chumash people, then through the age of Spanish explorers who, when they saw the Chumash tomols (canoes), christened the area La Carpinteria (the Carpentry Shop). Lastly, the age of Mexican settlers and American pioneers is examined. 

Exhibits feature Chumash artifacts and recreations of a Victorian kitchen, saddle-strewn ranch, schoolroom, blacksmith shop, and an Adobe home. Each scene features a life-sized cutout of settlers performing their daily tasks. All of the scenes feature artifacts true to the period.

The Chumash and Gabrielino-Tongva peoples are the first known human inhabitants of the regions we now know as the Channel Islands and Santa Monica Mountains. Archaeologists have found artifacts from their tribes that date to as far as 15,000 years.

A large portion of the museum contains furniture, doors, clothes, toys, instruments, and more from the Higgins family mansion that was demolished during the 1960s. Volunteers saved much of the contents, storing them in home garages and storage units until the museum officially opened and they could be displayed. There is also a case on display dedicated to the city’s contributions during World War II inside the museum. 

Related Tags

Museums Native Americans Artifacts Victorian

Know Before You Go

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Entrance is free. The “Monthly Museum Marketplace” happens on the last Sunday of every month. The museum is also home to an appointment-only research library containing photographs, oral interviews, and documents from the Valley’s past.

Community Contributors

Added By

jbartlett2000

Published

November 11, 2019

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  • https://www.wishtoyo.org/cp-chumash-history
Carpinteria Valley Museum
956 Maple Ave
Carpinteria, California, 93013
United States
34.397486, -119.517679
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Nearby Places

Wardholme Torrey Pine

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miles away

Carpinteria Tar Pits

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Carpinteria

Carpinteria

California

Places 4

Nearby Places

Wardholme Torrey Pine

Carpinteria, California

miles away

Carpinteria Tar Pits

Carpinteria, California

miles away

Carpinteria Harbor Seal Preserve

Carpinteria, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Carpinteria

Carpinteria

California

Places 4

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