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Valley Center History Museum

Valley Center History Museum

A huge, rampant stuffed California grizzly bear greets the visitor with bared teeth at the entrance to the Valley Center History Museum.

That fierce grizzly, a gift from the Escondido Museum, is a favorite with old and young. It memorializes the fact that Valley Center was once known as Bear Valley. It was so called because the largest California grizzly on record (over a ton in weight) was shot and killed in the community 136 years ago. California grizzlys have been extinct since 1924. The Valley Center museum is the only place in San Diego County to have a grizzly.

The 1,400 square foot museum, which opened in 2003, is next door to the Valley Center Library, whose Friends of the Library organization has always had a very active community of historians. It was their efforts, to a great degree, that led to the building of the museum The museum showcases more than two centuries of local history through exhibits and displays of artifacts, memorabilia and historic documents. History buffs can also walk across to the library and visit the Valley Center Room, which houses the archives of the history committee.

Permanent exhibits include an authentic carriage that was used in the Civil War and later provided regular transportation between Valley Center and Escondido; a recreation of a fully furnished settler’s cabin built in 1862; a tribute to aviation pioneer Donald Gordon, who flew the first airplane west of the Mississippi; and the Lilac Post Office, smallest post office in the United States. There is also a Native American corner and a community quilt made by local ladies.

In addition to the permanent exhibits, the museum regularly has a series of temporary, traveling exhibits.

Classroom tours are welcome by appointment. Docents take school groups through the complex.

The facility is administered by a board of directors that consists of longtime civic leader and rancher Bill Hutchings, chairman; Assistant School Supt. Sarah Clayton, vice-chairman; Nicky Lovejoy, treasurer; Joyce Johnson, secretary; Petei McHenry, executive director, director, Norm Syler, director.

The museum is dedicated to the memory of Col. Irving and Mrs. Cecile Salomon. A $250,000 gift from their daughter, Abbe Wolfsheimer Stutz and Louis Wolfsheimer, made the museum possible.

The museum is open to the public without charge Tuesday through Saturday from noon-4 p.m.

For more information, visit the museum web site at www.valleycenterhistory.org, or contact them at: Phone: 749-2993. 29200 Cole Grade Rd., Valley Center, CA 92082.