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Featured Events

A Candlelit Evening

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Christmas Trees

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History Talks

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Educational Programs

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Exhibits

Visit Benicia Historical Museum

Keeping culture and community alive and kicking!

Explore Exhibits

California Gold Rush

Experience our brand new exhibit, and take an in-depth look at how the California Gold Rush reached every corner of the globe. As immigrants flooded the territory, they transformed our state in ways they never could have imagined.

The Birth of Benicia

The Birth of Benicia features Robert Semple – Founding Father, The Vision, Semple and the Bear Flag Revolt, Semple and California Statehood, and Benicia’s “Firsts”.

Special Exhibition

A Great Frontier Odyssey: During their 1873-1874 journey, artists Paul Frenzy and Jules Tavernier vividly depicted frontier life. The New York publishing firm, Harper's Brothers chose these two artists to provide images of the great frontier.

Educational Programs

Educational Programs that work for you.

The BENICIA HISTORICAL MUSEUM offers education programs that bring history to life, providing you and your students with the best hands-on opportunities possible. Become an archeologist and dig up artifacts, learn about early California Amerindians, material culture, and so much more.

Our wide variety of educational programs are offered for K-8 groups and include Guided Tours of our exhibits and grounds, Hands-on History where students get to participate in a selection of activities, Traveling Trunks where students can explore a different time period through a collection of lesson plans based on objects in the trunk, and custom made programs for your class focusing on your standards and desired unit themes.

To book a program, educators will need to choose from one of the Core Programs listed below and then choose one of the corresponding thematic Hands-on History Activities, or choose one of the Non-Traditional Programs as the focus of the visit.

Options for independent, self guided gallery exploration can be built in to your specific schedule to further enrich the experience.

Education programs are tailored to grade levels and the Benicia Historical Museum recommends that educators/coordinators choose topics relevant to students’ curriculum. The Museum offers programs designed for specific experiences.

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Museum Podcast

CAMELCAST

Listen to our informative podcast! Filled with of great interviews, local history facts, and stories about the early days of Benicia.

A section of the Barlow Map - the original survey and plan for the City of Benicia

Rancho Suscol pt. 2 | Camelcast – Season 2, Ep. 2

The Benicia Historical Museum’s COVID Quarantine Camelcast returns for a second season! Providing a “camel’s eye view” of Benicia’s unique history. Season 2 of the Camelcast resumes with the final episode examining the history of Rancho Suscol. The area of this 84,000 acre land grant, given in...

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Rancho Suscol | Camelcast – Season 2, Ep. 1

The Benicia Historical Museum’s COVID Quarantine Camelcast returns for a second season! Providing a “camel’s eye view” of Benicia’s unique history. Season 2 of the COVID Quarantine Camelcast kicks of with the first of two episodes examining the history of Rancho Suscol. The area of this 84,000...

Listen

A Capital Capitol | Camelcast – Season 1, Ep. 9

Listen to the ninth episode of the Benicia Historical Museum’s COVID Quarantine Camelcast! Providing a “camel’s eye view” of Benicia’s unique history. In A Capital Capitol, Executive Director Elizabeth d'Huart and Museum Research Historian Dr. Jim Lessenger discuss Benicia's brief time as the...

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Memberships & Volunteers

Museum Memberships

Join today and get access to great benefits! Choose between the levels of membership that works best for you or purchase a gift membership for someone you love!

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Volunteers

Join our volunteer family and be a part of the museum – the people, the events, the history, and everything in between. Participate behind the scenes in this hands-on museum of California History. Serving our community for over 30 years, we welcome you to share your knowledge and talents with our ever-growing audience.

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Show the world you love us! Buy a T-Shirt!

When you purchase a Benicia Historical Museum shirt, not only will you be stylishly representing our organization, but you’ll also be helping get people involved in our important work. These high quality, comfortable shirts are the perfect way to show that you support us, and that you are passionate about our museum. The cost is $30 per shirt, and they are available in a variety of sizes. A portion of the proceeds from every shirt sold will directly benefit our organization, and, in turn, the members of our local community. Thank you for your support! Please share this with your friends, and family. We’d greatly appreciate it.

Bonus: FREE MEMBERSHIP included with purchase! 

Buy Yours Today!