Museums in Western Contra Costa County

You're out running errands when something odd catches your eye. That building, the one you pass by millions of times, reveals a detail that triggers your curiosity. Perhaps it shows signs of a previous life, or a faded advertisement on the side gives a keyhole-like opening into the area's past.

Local museums can provide additional information on that curious totem while providing an entertaining and educational time for everyone in the family. And the mysteries you solve may just be your own.

The Richmond Museum is currently running an exhibit entitled, "This Is Your Life," marking Richmond's 100 years as a city. "It's intended to be hitting the higlights of Richmond's past," explains Don Bastin, the Museum's director. "There's a general overview, from 1900 to the present, and we are able to show things normally not on view," he adds.

More notably, the exhibit shows what has stayed the same. "Richmond has always been a diverse town - always," Bastin says, highlighting one of the exhibit's key themes.

The exhibit has proven very popular, and many attendees feel a sense of connection after they view the displays. "Many people had families who came here during World War II. They never really talked to their family members. But it's that spark, that realization that, 'I have a history, and my family has a history, and it's related to the history of Richmond.'"

That personal touch is also evident at the Crockett Museum and Historical Society, at the intersection of Loring and Rolph Streets, in the former Southern Pacific station. 

While curator Keith Olsen cites many reasons why visitors come and find the museum such a wonderful place to visit, most of the reasons have a strong personal connection behind them.

"People come along and say, 'We want to see the fish,' but . . ." he trails off, alluding to the other exhibits that soon take the place of the world-record sturgeon which hangs on the museum's walls.

"It's an eclectic collection," Olsen explains. "There's a lot of C & H memorabilia, because it's always been a sugar refinery town."