November 2010

This late 19th century building once stood across Colvin Run Road from the mill. Storekeeper Mark Cockrill stocked general merchandise for the farming community of Colvin Run and for patrons of the mill. Today, examples of merchandise that would have been sold during the years the store operated, from the 1890s to the 1940s, are displayed on the top shelves and hung from the ceiling. The general store continues as a mercantile establishment, selling grain ground at the mill, "penny" candy and sundries.

The famous pioneer of literary realism, William Dean, stayed at this house in the winter of 1916.

Named after its most famous inhabitant, William Dean Howells, this house is a large Colonial Revival structure. Mr. Howells, a famous American writer and editor, wintered here in 1916. While here, Howells wrote about the Prince Murat House nextdoor. Today the Howells House contains the administrative offices, library, and volunteer center for the museum.

Today, visitors to the house receive guided tours of two lavishly furnished floors in the home. Trained guides combine family stories and local history with information about the house and its furnishings to tell the story of the McFaddin family and the era 1906-1950.

The visitors' tour of the museum begins with an excursion into a replicated hard rock mine. Visitors will also experience a stamp mill and an assayer’s office. It’s here that gold was processed from the raw material removed from the mines. Exhibits of a miner’s cabin and a mining camp saloon where a game of Faro is underway provide glimpses into the lives of miners. Visitors can also pan for gold in the indoor stream or watch a video on Gold Rush history.

The museum gallery, which is located in the space that once housed the county jail, provides an overview of Placer County’s history. Some of the highlights include a diorama depicting a Nisenan Indian family, the stagecoach that ran from Auburn to Michigan Bluff, and a video presentation of the history of the transcontinental highway system that runs through the county.

The featured exhibit in the foyer is the Pate Collection of Native American Art. This collection contains artifacts from all over California, the Southwest, the Northwest Coast, Alaska, and the Eastern United States. Also in the foyer is “Auburn Centennial”, a painting by renowned artist Thomas Kinkade.

The Sheriff’s Office has been restored to recreate the early days of the building. With its original furniture back in place, it looks as if Sheriff Elmer Gum will walk in the door at any moment.

The Gold Collection is housed in the lower vault inside the former Treasurer’s Office, and can be viewed by the public everyday from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm (except Holidays).

Complete with some of the original office furniture of the Penryn Granite Works, the Griffith Quarry Museum explains the history of a mine and a town centered not around gold, but around granite. The Griffith Quarry Museum was the office of the Penryn Granite Works, which was established by Welsh Immigrant Griffith Griffith in 1864. The surrounding 23-acre park contains ruins of the first polishing mill built in California and some of the quarry holes from which the unique Penryn granite was taken.

The aircraft displayed at the Castle Air Museum, planes like the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, the B-29 Super Fortress, the B-26 Marauder and the B-25 Mitchell Bomber as well as the Mustang, Thunderbolt and Lightning are as much a part of America's heritage as Independence Hall, and the Battlefield at Gettysburg. The museum explores this heritage both in its outdoor aircraft displays and in an indoor museum where visitors can see a fascinating collection of war-time memorabilia, including an outstanding array of Army Air Corps and Air Force uniforms, and the once top-secret Norden Bomb Sight. (from website)

From old stoves and bicycles to dolls and movie posters, displays at the Alameda Museum will allow visitors to grasp the rich heritage of the town and the area.

Modoc County Historical Museum houses a large collection of artifacts and firearms including handguns and rifles from the 15th century to the post-World War II era. Rotation of displays keeps local as well as out-of-the-area visitors returning.

The Kober's Drygoods Store displays a variety of items from 1888, when Henry Kober established his store, until after the death of his daughter Elsie, whom continued the business until her death in 1984. The museum presents histories of the three cultures of Native Americans that lived in Modoc: Pit River, Modoc and Paiute. Artifacts on display depict the native life-styles in Southern Oregon, Eastern Nevada and Northern California, dating from the 19th century to over 8,000 years ago.

Visitors are invited to see the tavern that was once originally home to Charles Washington. The Tap Room features a reconstructed bar cage and fine collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English and American pewter. Another spacious room provided a space for meetings and private dinners by patrons of the tavern."Tavern Wenches" provide visitors with a lively interpretation of eighteenth-century tavern life. The tavern is filled with period furnishings and stories of early life in Fredericksburg. A complete restoration took place in the 1930s, but much of the woodwork in the tavern is original.