California Museums and Culture

    Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum, San Francisco County

  175 Jefferson Street - San Francisco, CA             
Two floors and over 10,000 square feet filled with the strange, the unusual, and the unbelievable! See in person the incredible "Believe It or Nots" you've read about in the Ripley books and cartoons and seen on television.
    ferrari, Los Angeles County
   - Beverly Hills, CA
          
this is a nice museum.
    The Beat Museum, San Francisco County
  540 Broadway - San Francisco, CA           
The cultural epicenter of the Beat Generation. The museum features a large collection of photos, letters and first editions. Hundreds of people have already passed through the Beat Museum, and locals are adding more to the collection.
    Cable Car Museum, San Francisco County
  1201 Mason Street - San Francisco, CA           
From the first run in 1873 to the present. Learn about the inventor, technologies, builders, rapid expansion, near loss and the ongoing efforts to save and rebuild the cable cars of San Francisco.
Houses a collection of historic cable cars, photographs, mechanical displays and gift shop run by the Friends of the Cable Car Museum - a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of cable car history.
    Hollywood Wax Museum, Los Angeles County
  6767 Hollywood Blvd - Hollywood, CA           
What began as a family business has blossomed into a world famous entertainment company, Kuvera Attractions. Entrepreneur Spoony Singh built the Hollywood Wax Museum with the vision of bringing people close to their favorite stars. More than 40 years later, the Hollywood Boulevard attraction is the longest running wax museum in the nation and has expanded into other cities across the United States.
    San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco County
  151 Third Street - San Francisco, CA             
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As one of the world's most innovative museums of modern and contemporary art, SFMOMA has had an active Web presence for over nine years (a very long time, when measured in Internet time). During this period we have redesigned our site twice, always with the idea that a museum such as ours should continually strive to improve the ways in which it serves a diverse public. And, as our collective understanding of emerging digital technologies has increased, we felt that perhaps it was time to use the Web to explore our understanding of the museum itself.
    Musée Mécanique, San Francisco County
  Pier 45 at the end of Taylor Street - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA           
One of the world's largest (over 200) privately owned collection of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines in their original working condition. (You can play them!)
    San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum, San Diego County
   - San Diego, CA             
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No carrier has the history or the crew to match the Midway. A 47-year odyssey that spanned the end of WWII and Desert Storm, an odyssey in which more than 225,000 Americans took part.
    Charles M. Schulz, Sonoma County
  2301 Hardies Lane - Santa Rosa, CA           
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 26, 1922, Charles M. Schulz was the only child of Dena and Carl Schulz. From birth, comics played an important role in Schulz’s life. At just two days old, an uncle nicknamed him “Sparky” after the horse Spark Plug from the Barney Google comic strip, and throughout his youth he and his father shared a Sunday morning ritual reading the funnies. Schulz always knew he wanted to be a cartoonist and was very proud when Ripley’s newspaper feature, Believe it or Not, published his drawing of the family dog in 1937.
    California African American Museum, Los Angeles County
  600 State Drive - Los Angeles, CA            
The museum occupies a 44,000 square feet facility that includes 3 full-size exbition galleries, a theater gallery, a 14,000 square foot Sculputure Court, a conference center/special events room, an archive and research library, administrative offices, exibit design and artifact storage areas.
    San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, San Diego County
  404 Third Avenue - San Diego, CA            
The San Diego Chinese Historical Museum is a nonprofit organization. The museum was founded in 1996, by the San Diego Chinese Historical Society under the leadership of its first three presidents: Sally Wong, Tom Hom, and Dr. Alexander Chuang. Charles Tyson donated the museum's current building, originally a Chinese mission located at 645 First Avenue, and in 1991, the City of San Diego graciously provided a piece of land in the original Chinatown area where the museum now resides.
Since opening in 1996, the museum has presented more than 47 exhibits highlighting the rich tradition of Chinese culture and history in San Diego and the world. The Museum also features a library of books on Chinese culture and a tranquil garden with koi pond.
    Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco County
  685 Mission Street - San Francisco, CA            
An international museum, based in San Francisco, MoAD is committed to showcasing the "best of the best" from the African Diaspora. To facilitate this, MoAD reaches out and initiates collaborative ventures with institutions of similar vision from around the world. Already, the museum has forged rich relationships with the British Museum, the Museum of African Art (NY), Eileen Harris Norton and Peter Norton, and the University of California Berkeley, amongst others.
Drawing from the collections of museums, institutes, organizations, universities and private citizens, MoAD is a collector of stories—a repository of information to be shared with all who wish to know about the African Diaspora.
    Museum of Man, San Diego County
  1350 El Prado - Balboa Park - San Diego, CA            
The San Diego Museum of Man is a cultural and physical anthropology museum, collecting, preserving, interpreting, and communicating evidence of human development, creativity, and artistic expression.
    Pacific Coast Air Museum, Sonoma County
  2230 Becker Blvd. - Santa Rosa, CA            
Founded in 1989, the Pacific Coast Air Museum (PCAM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the acquisition, restoration, safe operation and display of historical aircraft and provides an educational venue for students and the community. We also intend to honor those heroic aviators who have contributed so much to the growth and defense of our way of life.
    Museum of Death, Los Angeles County
  6031 Hollywood Blvd. - Hollywood, CA           
The World Famous Museum of Death was founded in San Diego June 1, 1995. Originally located in San Diego's 1st mortuary's in a building once owned by Wyatt Earp. Evolving from the controversial art gallery the Rita Dean, founders James Healy and Cathee Shultz realized the void in the Death education in this country and decided to make Death their Life's work.
Recently reopened at it's NEW location the Museum of Death houses the worlds largest collection of Serial Murderer Artwork, Photos of the Charles Manson Crime Scenes, the Guillotined Severed Head of the Blue Beard of Paris, Henri Landru, Original Crime Scene and Morgue Photos from the Grisly BLACK DAHLIA MURDERS, a Body Bag and Coffin collection, replicas of Full Size Execution Devices, Mortician and Autopsy Instruments, Pet Death Taxidermy, and much much more!
    Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles County
  9786 West Pico Blvd. - Los Angeles, CA            
The Museum of Tolerance provides a unique and provocative experience that challenges visitors to become witnesses to history, confront the dynamic of intolerance that is still embedded in society today.
Through powerful interactive exhibits, arts and lectures, special events and customized educational programs for youths and adults, the Museum engages visitors' hearts and minds in a journey of discovery to inspire change.
    Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles County
  5905 Wilshire Boulevard - Los Angeles, CA             
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Location & Parking
The main buildings at LACMA (also known as LACMA East) are located in the Miracle Mile area between Fairfax Avenue and La Brea Avenue, on Wilshire Boulevard, just east of Ogden Drive. LACMA West is two blocks west, at the northeast corner of Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.
    Orange Empire Railway Museum, Riverside County
  2201 S. - Perris, CA           
The Orange Empire Railway Museum's purpose is to preserve and display artifacts and documents of the rail transportation industry in order to educate the public on the technology, history and impact of the rail transportation industry in the West and more specifically Southern California.
    San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego County
  1788 El Prado - Balboa Park - San Diego, CA             
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The San Diego Natural History Museum traces its roots to an enthusiastic group of amateur naturalists, who formed the San Diego Society of Natural History in 1874.
The San Diego Natural History Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums, which certifies that this museum continues to demonstrate a professional level of operation in accordance with the standards of excellence prescribed by the AAM.
    California State Military Museum, Sacramento County
  1119 Second Street - Sacramento, CA           
The California State Military Museum is located at 1119 Second Street in the Old Sacramento State Historical Park. It is only a few minutes walk from the State Capital, The California State Railroad Museum and several other fine museums, parks, and tourist attractions. The museum, opened by Governor Pete Wilson in 1991, is the official military museum and historical research center of the State of California. This was reinforced on 11 September 2002 when Governor Gray Davis signed legislation making the museum a permanent museum under the California State Military Department and providing permanent funding for the museum. Finally on 13 July 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation to amend the Government Code to make the museum the state's official military museum.
    San Diego Art Institute, San Diego County
  1439 El Prado - San Diego, CA            
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The San Diego Art Institute mission is to maintain a center for emerging artists and the visual arts in San Diego.
SDAI's most visible activity focuses on showcasing the work of San Diego emerging area visual artists through a program of over 30 juried shows a year, (regular show, "One-Foot" show, special outreach shows, youth art & others). Different art professionals are selected as jurors for each show assuring exhibitions of high quality and great variety. Jurors' Choice and Honorable Mention certificates are awarded at monthly public receptions.
    Maritime Museum of San Diego, San Diego County
   - San Diego, CA            
The Maritime Museum of San Diego enjoys a worldwide reputation for excellence in restoring, maintaining and operating historic vessels. The museum has one of the world's finest collections of historic ships, including the world famous Star of India.
    California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, Sonoma County
  5250 Aero Drive - Santa Rosa, CA           
The Museum provides California Indians and the public with a first class museum facility in which to portray California Indian history and culture from an Indian perspective. In addition, the museum showcases and encourages the present-day renaissance of California Indian culture, affirming its survival and continued vitality in the face of extreme adversity. Finally, the museum provides opportunities for Native Americans to receive training and experience in a variety of fields such as museum direction, curation, design and interpretation.
The Museum was developed by the National Indian Justice Center (NIJC), a 100% Indian owned and operated nonprofit corporation. Originally founded in 1983 as a resource for tribal courts, the NIJC has steadily expanded its mission and is now known as a major force for improving the quality of life and the quality of justice in Indian country.
    Aerospace Museum of California, Sacramento County
  3200 Freedom Park Drive - McClellan Air Force Base, CA           
The Aerospace Museum of California Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that was formerly known as the McClellan Aviation Museum. The Museum has been in existence since 1982. The name was changed in 2005 to reflect the new vision focused on education and to reflect the full heritage of aviation and aerospace in the Sacramento region.
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