Looking for history? Lodi is your destination

By Tom Hall
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

The Lodi area offers visitors several excellent museums in which to get a better feel for the history of the region dating back to the Gold Rush era and beyond. Here are a few of the notables in Northern San Joaquin County.

The 15-acre San Joaquin County Historical Museum at Micke Grove Regional Park near Lodi features many exhibits detailing the long history of the northern Central Valley. The museum is located at 11793 N. Micke Grove Road. Its phone number is 331-2055 and its Web site can be found at www.sanjoaquinhistory.org.

The Haggin Museum in Stockton is home to many important exhibits and exhibitions that draw thousands of people each year. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

The museum’s quarter-mile Sunshine Trail recreates a Californian tour featuring the state’s plants, geology, bridges and bodies of water. The trail, designed to be enjoyed by the vision-impaired, features special markers and audio stations.

The museum’s Delta Building highlights the geography and history of the people of the Delta, including Indians, trappers, explorers and farmers. More than 3,750 antique tools of trade are on display. The museum’s exhibit is the most complete collection of early manually powered tools west of the Mississippi River.

The Helen Weber Kennedy Gallery showcases the furnishings of Stockton founder Capt. Charles M. Weber’s 1850s house. Objects include imported china, furniture, glass, engravings and books. Also on display are Weber’s branding iron, gold-headed cane, wedding certificate and firearms.

There are also several special events at the museum throughout the year.

Every May, the museum will host “Spring on the Farm,” a historical look at California farming in the 1800s. Antique farm equipment will be demonstrated and farm animal-inspired crafts projects will be offered. The event will last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Admission is $1 for children 2-8 and $5 for those 9-years-old and up.

From Oct. 10 to Nov. 25, an exhibit called “Pieces of the Past” will be displayed. The exhibit, sponsored by the Docent Council, will feature a collection of historic quilts.

A 10-month exhibit highlighting the Yokut and Miwok tribes will be available starting in November and ending in September 2005. The exhibit will document the trials and achievements of San Joaquin County’s first inhabitants.

December 6-7 will bring the Festival of Trees to the museum. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, more than 50 decorated Christmas trees will be on display. A Victorian-themed Christmas boutique, cookie decorating booth, craft table and refreshment stand will also spruce up the museum for the winter festival. Adult admission is $5 and children under age 8 will be $1.

The Hill House Museum is located at 826 S. Church St., Lodi; 369-6073. This restored Queen Anne Victorian in central Lodi displays Hill family heirlooms. The house was built for George Washington Hill, who was a local jeweler and watchmaker. Hill House is unique in that all the furnishings and other memorabilia actually belonged to the Hill family.

The museum is open for tours 1-4 p.m. Sundays (except on holidays). Special tours can also be arranged by phone. Admission is free though donations are accepted.

The Rae House Museum is located 204 Oak Avenue, Galt; 745-1146. A Galt-focused history is displayed in the museum. The house is the showcase for material donated to and found by the Galt Area Historical Society, which serves the agricultural communities surrounding Galt. The home was built by central California pioneer John Rae.

The museum opened in 1991 and underwent a $75,000 renovation in 2003. The museum is open for tours every first and third Sunday of the month from 1-4 p.m. Special group tours are available by request. Admission is free.

The Great Valley Serpentarium is located 2379 Maggio Circle, Lodi; 369-7737. The serpentarium features exhibits containing tortoises, lizards, snakes and other amphibians.

It is open for visitors 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Admission is free.

The Haggin Museum, located at 1201 N. Pershing Avenue, Stockton; 940-6300, features work from noted 19th-century European painters such as Albert Bierstadt, Rosa Bonheur and William-Adolphe Bouguereau. The museum also showcases Stockton history and a World War II-era Jeep.

Greg Boyd, a blacksmith at Columbia State Historic Park, said he loves his job because he gets to provide nonstop smiles every day to the visitors who flock to the former gold-mining town, which has become a living-history museum. (J. Paul Bruton/News-Sentinel)

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $2.50 for seniors and students. Admission is free on the first Saturday of each month.

The Children’s Museum of Stockton is located at 402 W. Weber Avenue, Stockton; 465-4386. The education-focused museum recreates a small, child-sized city for kids to enjoy and learn about hands-on. Exhibits allow children to perform real-life tasks like counting money or weighing mail.

The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays. Admission is $4.25 per person. Children under two years old are free.

Columbia State Historic Park is located three miles north of Sonora, off of Highway 49; 536-1672. The park is actually a living town frozen in its 1850s state. The park recreates a Gold Rush-era mountain town with buildings, costumed locals and history-based plays.

Admission is free and various themed restaurants and shops line the streets of Columbia. Information on special events can be found by calling the park or visiting its Web site at www.columbiacalifornia.com.