Sonoma County Museum, Art and history museum in Santa Rosa, United States
The Museum of Sonoma County occupies the 1910 Santa Rosa Post Office, a Classical Federal building moved 750 feet on rails in 1979, and a contemporary gallery behind it. Between the two, a sculpture garden opened in 2011. The museum holds over 18,000 objects and mounts 10–12 rotating exhibitions a year.
The museum was established to preserve the history of Sonoma County from early settlement through modern times. Its collections show how the community developed through different phases of California's growth and change.
The museum displays artworks by regional artists alongside objects that tell the diverse stories of Northern California communities. The exhibitions reflect how people have lived and worked in this area through different times.
The campus on Seventh Street combines the 1910 former post office with a newer gallery building and a sculpture garden between them; the garden, designed by Frederic Warnecke, opened in 2011. The historic post office was moved about 750 feet to this site starting in April 1979, travelling roughly 36 feet a day. Exhibitions rotate ten to twelve times a year, so what is on view changes between visits.
The museum holds a surprisingly large collection of everyday objects from the lives of earlier residents, not just famous artworks. These personal items give visitors a more direct sense of how people actually lived in past times.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,042 contributors worldwide.