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You're invited to experience the extraordinary
beauty that is Plumas County as you explore nine
museums within this rural area of Northeastern
California.
Discover how people have lived, worked
and played in the small communities of Feather
River Country. You'll learn stories of Native
American Maidus, gold-seeking miners, Chinese
immigrants, timber-falling lumberjacks, pioneer
families, cowboys and railroad gandydancers.
Order a copy of "Museums of the Feather
River Country."
Plumas County Museum.
500 Jackson Street, Quincy, CA 95971, (530)
283-6320. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday
through Saturday (year-round) and 10 a.m. to
4 p.m. (April
through October). Admission $2 adults, $1
for ages 12-17, and free to children and
members.
One of the most comprehensive, well presented museums in rural California.
Cultural and home art displays are complemented by technological displays
featuring agriculture, gold mining, logging and railroad history. In accordance
with the "living museum" philosophy, most exhibits are rotated periodically.
Collections include Maidu Indian basketry, pioneer weaponry, archeology and
natural history. Outdoors is a blacksmith shop and miner's cabin along with the
larger mining and logging equipment, and agricultural implements.
A mezzanine gallery features exhibits of local artisans, and an outstanding
archival library is utilized under supervision for research projects. Special
events at the museum include the Christmas "Wassail Bowl" and a Summertime Open
House, both of which include tours of the 1878 Variel Home adjacent to the
museum property. Area literature, histories, artwork and other items are on sale
in the museum bookstore.
Historic Variel Home. 137 Coburn Street, next to Plumas County Museum,
(530) 283-6320. Originally built by Joshua Variel in 1878, this restored
three-story Victorian is furnished from the museum collection to represent a
middle-class family home in turn-of-the-century Plumas County. Old-fashioned
gardens around the home provide a delightful rest stop. Open for tours from May
through September (call for schedule) and by special appointment.
Western Pacific Railroad Museum. Off
Commercial Street in downtown Portola, 700
Western Pacific Way (530) 832-4131.
Open seasonally (April through October), 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. Donation requested.
This world-renowned museum was established in 1983 by the Feather River Rail
Society. It preserves general railroad history, equipment, photos, artifacts,
historical information and data. Housed in a former Western Pacific diesel shop,
the museum has approximately 12,000 feet of track and 170 pieces of equipment.
Visitors can climb about an extensive collection
of train cars and locomotives and can even drive
a locomotive themselves (reservations required). Train rides in
cabooses and vista flats around a enamel balloon
track during summer weekends.
Plumas-Eureka State Park Museum.
Located five miles west of Graeagle on
Johnsville Road. (A-14 west of Highway 89)
(530) 836-2380. Open daily, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
in summer; open when staff is available
during the rest of the year. Free admission. This indoor-outdoor museum within the Plumas-Eureka State Park preserves the
rich heritage of the Feather River Country's gold mining legacy. Housed in a
restored miners' boarding house, this museum displays mining tools, photographs,
pioneer household items, working models of antique mining machinery and antique
skis as well as animals native to the park. The rustic, five-story Mohawk Stamp
Mill, which processed raw gold-bearing quartz, is among the buildings nearby,
which also include a blacksmith shop, a bunkhouse and a miner's home. Supervised
gold panning programs are offered in the summertime along Jamison Creek.
Docents in period attire recreate the life of a
miner's family and the period on Gold Discovery Days (July 19-20). Blacksmith demonstrations,
mining lore and a home tour help bring visitors back to the 1890s.
Indian
Valley Museum. Located at the Mt.
Jura Gem & Museum Society Building, on
the corner of Main St. and Cemetery Rd.,
east of Taylorsville. (530) 284-6511. Open 1
to 4 p.m. Fridays through
Sundays and holidays from Memorial Day
weekend through early fall, or by
appointment. Donations accepted.
The Indian Valley Museum features displays and data relating to the rich
traditions of mining, ranching and logging in Indian Valley. One room, dedicated
to the native Maidu Indian culture, features a fine collection of Maidu baskets.
Other artifacts represent the early settlers of the Indian and Genesee Valleys
from 1850s to the present. Mining equipment is on display outside the museum,
along with a blacksmith shop. A museum annex features larger exhibits
including a 1932 fire engine and dairy equipment. A new 800-swaure foot room
features a large display of rocks, minerals and mineral carvings. Rocks and
minerals are also available for sale.
Chester-Lake Almanor Museum. 200 First Ave.,
Chester
(530) 258-2742. Open Monday through Friday,
call for hours. Free admission.
Features a photographic history of the Lake Almanor Basin, including dairy
farming, logging and tourism. Also includes
Maidu Indian basketry and artifacts.
A compact, century-old steam locomotive known as the "Dinky" is also on
display on the Collins Pine Co. lawn along Main
Street. The "Dinky" was recently discovered at
the bottom of nearby Butt Valley Reservoir
during repairs to the dam. It is believed to
have been used to help build the dam around
1913.
Collins Pine Museum. 500 Main Street, Chester, east of Collins Pines
Co. offices. (530) 258-2111. Open daily during daylight hours, from Memorial Day
through mid-October. Free admission. The museum building is shaped like
the original sawmill, which operated from 1943-2001, with solid wood post and
beam construction. The museum features information about lumbering, forestry,
principles of sustainability, panels of exhibits and a mini theater. An outdoor exhibit of rolling stock
retired from the Collins Pine lumber mill features 12-14 pieces of equipment
including log and water trucks, a lumber carrier, logging arches and a pond
boat.
 Jim
Beckwourth Museum. Rocky Point Road,
east of Portola. (530) 832-4888. Open
weekends from 1-4 p.m. Memorial Day through
Labor Day; other times by appointment. Free
admission.
Plumas County pioneer Jim Beckwourth's authentic log cabin trading post and
"hotel," featuring V-notch construction.
Beckwourth was one of the few pioneer
leaders of African-American descent. He
discovered the lowest pass over the Sierra.
Order the free brochure "History of the
Beckwourth Trail."
Frank C. Reilly Museum. Main Street, La
Porte. (530) 675-1922 or (530) 675-2841. Open Saturdays, Sundays and
holidays, Memorial Day to Labor Day, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Features displays of La Porte's gold mining and ski racing history. Named
after a longtime La Porte resident, the museum was founded by the Frank C.
Reilly chapter of the Clampers, a historical organization of which Reilly
was a member. The club's archives are in the museum, along with local
artwork and a "hodgepodge" of other items, including an extensive butter
dish collection.
Williams House Museum. 424 E. Sierra Ave. (Highway 70)
Portola, (530) 832-0671. Open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and
Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Winter hours: January through April 10 a.m. to 3
p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Call (530)
832-5784 for tours. Free admission.
This 1931 log home, on the California Historical Register, was a former
residence and gas station owned and operated by a Portola couple, Sam and
Ethel Williams. Exhibits, documents, photographs and quilts depict local
family history and tell the story of the town's lumber, mining, and railroad
industries. |
