Local History Museum Passport

The Southwestern Riverside County Museum Association has created a Local History Museum Passport. Similar to the National Park Service’s Passport to Your National Parks book, the Passport encourages people to visit eight local history museums in our area: Hemet Museum, Hamilton Museum and Ranch, Lake Elsinore Museum, Little Temecula History Center, Menifee Museum, Murrieta Museum, Perris Museum, and Temecula Valley Museum. For each museum, there is a place to stamp your Passport with the individual museum’s rubber stamp.

Museums

Gilman Historic Ranch and Wagon Museum

1901 Wilson Street
Banning, CA 92220
(951) 922-9200
(800) 234-PARK (7275)

Visit the Gilman Historic Ranch and Wagon Museum website.

Hamilton Museum and Ranch

39991 Contreras Road
Anza, CA 92539
(951) 763-1350

The Hamilton Museum is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. The museum is located on the historical homestead of the Contreras and Hamilton families in Anza, California. The museum has two houses, a barn, and open grounds to explore. Visit the Hamilton Museum and Ranch website.

Lake Elsinore Historical Society Museum

183 N Main Street
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
(951) 579-4852

The Lake Elsinore Historical Society was founded in 1996 to collect, protect, preserve, display, and further the preservation of items and documents of historical value and significance from the Lake Elsinore Valley. Visit the Lake Elsinore Historical Society Museum website.

Little Temecula History Center

32075 Wolf Store
Temecula, CA 92592
(951) 775-6057

Visit the Temecula Valley Historical Society website.

March Field Air Museum

22550 Van Buren Blvd
Riverside, CA 92518
(951) 902-5949

Visit the March Field Air Museum website.

Menifee History Museum

26301 Garbani Road
Menifee, CA 92584
Email: MenifeeHistory@gmail.com

The Menifee Valley Historical Association operates a local history museum. The museum showcases information about the first inhabitants of the valley, early homesteaders, mining, and farming operations, as well as information about the one-room school houses and communities of Menifee, including Quail Valley, Sun City and Romoland. The museum is free and open to the public on Sundays from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. ​Visit the Menifee History Museum website. Visit the Menifee Valley Historical Association on Facebook.

Motte Historical Museum

28380 Highway 74
Menifee, CA 92585
(951) 928-3210

Visit the Motte Historical Museum website.

​Murrieta Museum

​41810 Juniper Street
Murrieta, CA 92562
(951) 677-7758

​Visit the Murrieta Valley Historical Society website.

Perris Valley Historical Museum

​120 W 4th Street
Perris, CA 92570
(951) 657-0274

​Visit the Perris Valley Historical Museum Facebook page.

Riverside Museum (Museum of Riverside)

3580 Mission Inn Avenue
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 826-5273

Visit the Museum of Riverside website.

San Bernardino County Museum

2024 Orange Tree Lane
Redlands, CA 92374
(909) 798-8608

Visit the San Bernardino County Museum website.

San Bernardino History & Railroad Museum

1170 W Third Street
San Bernardino, CA 92410
(909) 709-1895
(951) 544-4449

Visit the San Bernardino History & Railroad Museum website.

​San Jacinto Museum

695 Ash Street
San Jacinto, CA 92583
(951) 255-5598 (Lynn Peterson)

The San Jacinto Museum is a monument to community support and initiative! It was founded in 1939 by interested and enthusiastic citizens and kept open in 1978 by another generation of equally concerned citizens. Visit the San Jacinto Museum website.

​Temecula Valley Museum

​28314 Mercedes Street
Temecula, CA 92590
(951) 694-6450

​The Temecula Valley Museum is located in Old Town Temecula, come visit and learn more about local history! The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Visit the Temecula Valley Museum website.

Warner-Carrillo Ranch House

29181 San Felipe Road
Warner Springs CA 92086
(619) 297-9327

Visit the Warner-Carrillo Ranch House website.

Western Science Center

2345 Searl Parkway
Hemet, CA 92543
(951) 791-0033

​​​The Western Science Center is the largest natural history museum in Riverside County. The Pacific Mastodon, a new species of mastodon, was discovered right here in Hemet. When the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California began excavating the manmade reservoir that would become known as Diamond Valley Lake in the early 1990s, they discovered hundreds of thousands of Pleistocene (ice age) fossils. The museum was built to share their findings with the public. Visit the Western Science Center website.

Winchester Patterson House

28030 Patterson Avenue
Winchester, California 92596
(951) 294-0899 (Gregg Cowdery)

The Patterson House was built in 1891 to replace a former adobe structure. The house measures 30 feet by 30 feet and is constructed of brick. The house is presently owned by The Winchester Historical Society of Pleasant Valley. The house is the oldest private residence still standing in what is now known as the community of Winchester. Visit the Winchester Patterson House website.

Historical Societies

Conference of California Historical Societies

515 Main St. Suite #108
Placerville, CA 95667
(530) 919-3354

Visit the Conference of California Historical Societies website.

Hemet-San Jacinto Genealogy Society

Duffin Heritage Room, inside the Hemet Public Library
300 E Latham Avenue
Hemet, CA 92543
(951) 765-2372

The Hemet-San Jacinto Genealogy Society has genealogy records, historic newspapers, photographs, and historical documents for Hemet and San Jacinto. Visit the Hemet-San Jacinto Genealogy Society’s website.

Idyllwild Area Historical Society

54470 N Circle Drive (corner of Oakwood)
Idyllwild, CA 92549
(951) 659-2717

Visit the Idyllwild Area Historical Society website.

Wildomar Historical Society

P.O. Box 1685
Wildomar, CA 92595
wildomarhs@gmail.com

Visit the Wildomar Historical Society website.

Miscellaneous Others

Diamond Valley Lake

Visit the Diamond Valley Lake website at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Hemet Public Library

300 E Latham Avenue
Hemet, CA 92543
(951) 765-2440

Visit the Hemet Public Library’s website.

Historic Hemet Theater

216 E Florida Avenue
Hemet, CA 92543
(951) 658-5950

Visit the Historic Hemet Theater website.

Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre

27400 Ramona Bowl Road
Hemet, California 92544
(951) 658-3111

Visit the Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre website.