November 14-January 5 To celebrate the holiday season, the Museum will display a selection of vintage and antique toys from our collections.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS October 3-November 3 The Museum will once again partner with El Dia De Los Muertos Petaluma to host an exhibition of ofrendas and artworks in celebration of Dia de Los Muertos, the annual holiday in honor [...]

September 12-November 3 Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making broadly outlines California’s history leading up to statehood as a backdrop to the factual and fictional stories that emerged after the US takeover. It considers nineteenth-century Mexican [...]

July 5-August 25 Illuminating the hardships, joys, and lives of female pioneers, Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women highlights first-person stories from the women who traveled by land or sea to settle in California prior to [...]

In commemoration of the 120th anniversary of the setting of the building’s cornerstone, this exhibition will include photographs, documents, and ephemera related to the founding and construction of Petaluma’s Carnegie Library. The exhibit will emphasize how community enthusiasm and support [...]

February 9, 2024 – Exhibit Open House – Doors open at 6:30 pm Featuring Special Guest Makeda Kumasi. Makeda is a performer, dancer, storyteller and much more. Cost - $10, but no one will be turned away Museum Hours: Thursdays Thru [...]

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE ARTS February 9 -March 31 Presented in partnership with Petaluma Blacks for Community Development, the exhibition will celebrate Black History Month through the lens of African Americans in the arts. CORNERSTONE: BUILDING COMMUNITY IN PETALUMA April [...]

November 9 - December 10 Petaluma Historical Library & Museum 20 4th Street, Petaluma Corner of 4th and B Streets Women serving in the military and female veterans are the focus of an exhibit the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum [...]

Our image art work is by the renowned El Dia De Los Muertos artist Peter Perez. Muchas Gracias Peter!!! Fine Art Exhibits and Altares con Ofrendas at Petaluma. October 14 - November 2 Thursday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 4 [...]

Thursday, September 14, 2023- Sunday, October 8, 2023 Exhibit Hours: Thursdays Thru Sundays 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Free and Open to the Public - Donations Appreciated Don't miss this treasure trove of ephemera from decades of years gone by. [...]

Image Note: This clapperboard is special because it was used in the filming of “American Graffiti” and donated to Cruisin’ The Boulevard (CTB) by the movie’s clapper loader. The shooting date of 8-2-72 it displays was toward the end of [...]

February 10, 2023 – Exhibit Open House – Doors open at 6:30 pm (There will be a docent-led tour of the exhibit) Hours: Thursdays Thru Sundays 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Free and Open to the Public Thru April 30, [...]

Opens December 1, 2022 Hours: Thursdays Thru Sundays 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Vintage toys from the late 19th century and early 20th Century will be displayed along with the latest acquisition of the William "Cowboy" Caldwell carved animal collection [...]

Your Hometown Main Street, Petaluma California August 11-November 27, 2022 Museum Hours: Thursday-Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Cost: Free, donations welcome Before Highway 101, and before Petaluma Blvd., there was Main Street. Essential to the economic vitality of the [...]

April 5, 1904 – Driving the first spike of the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad at the steamer landing, which is now Steamer Landing Park at Copeland Street. Histories of the Petaluma & Haystack Railway, Northwestern Pacific Railroad and Petaluma [...]

* See below for description of women in the photo collage Finding Our Roots: Women of Petaluma Flourishing & Blooming Over the Years Featuring the impacts of the Petaluma Woman’s Club and the Petaluma Garden Club Over the Last 126 [...]

The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum is excited to welcome junior historians to join us for family-friendly activities! This interactive exhibit invites kids to help build an archive of Petaluma’s history from kids' perspectives. Calling all budding artists! In our [...]

The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum Proudly Presents: The Imaginative World of William Caldwell Did you miss the exhibit?  Here's a curator-narrated video of the exhibit: https://vimeo.com/666405015 [September 11-December 19, 2021 Hours: Saturdays & Sundays 10:00 am - 3:45 pm] [...]

The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum Proudly Presents: Click on Image Above to Enter the Virtual Exhibit Black and White in Black and White Images of Dignity, Hope and Diversity in America September 26-November 6 Join Us! Virtual Exhibit Opening [...]

The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum Proudly Presents: Betty Andresen; A Chicken Rancher's Daughter Takes Flight: A Pictorial Tour. "Born and raised in Petaluma, Betty grew up on a chicken ranch off Liberty road, Betty was heartbroken when she was [...]

Created and produced by the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum with Petalumans Of Yesteryear Members and Spot Producer, Clint Gilbert The Petaluma downtown walking tours began more than 25 years ago when our downtown was put on the National Register of [...]

To honor black history month in 2021, Petaluma Blacks for Community Development (PBCD) is Celebrating Family with a portrait exhibit featuring over 70 diverse Petaluma families, who share what “family” means to them. You can find the Celebrating Family exhibit [...]

Photo Credits:  Center bottom Petaluma suffragist is Abigail Goodwin Haskell, photo courtesy of Ann Nisson.  From top center clockwise: Barnabus Haskell, photo courtesy of Ann Nisson; Freeman Parker, photo courtesy of Bancroft Library; Alma Parker Hynes Walls, photo courtesy of Janet Talamantes; Anna Morrison [...]

*Exhibit Image:Headquarters for Colored Women Voters,attributed as Georgia, ca. 1920 Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library In honor of Black History Month, and in celebration of the 42nd Annual Black [...]

The Threads That Connect Us A vintage & antique quilt show January 4 – 26, 2020 Opening Reception: Saturday, January 4, 4:00 - 5:30 pm Over 20 antique and vintage quilts Antique quilting machines and tools Childrens Activity Table Scheduled [...]

Take a Virtual Tour  of our Past Exhibit: Joseph C. Wayne: The Artist's Eye Behind the Lens Special thanks to our Sponsor for this Virtual Exhibit Imaging, Wayne Dunbar at Aftertec: On display starting July 4, 2019 will be a [...]

Scott Hess Photographs & Clo at the Mooseum The Petaluma Museum Association is proud to present a Dual Exhibit celebrating two of our 2019 Butter & Egg Honorees: Parade Marshall Clo the Cow, celebrating 50 Years, and this year's co-recipient [...]

In honor of Black History Month, and in celebration of the 41st Annual Black History Program, The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum and Petaluma Blacks for Community Development are pleased to present "The Great Black Migration. 1910-1970", an exhibit on [...]

Dates: October 6 through December 23, 2018 About: An exhibit celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, curated by Paula Freund. This exhibit will tell the story of the founding of the Carnegie Library through [...]

Dates: June through September 2018 About: An exhibit of vintage wedding dresses from the Petaluma Museum’s exquisite and extensive textile collection. Included in the I Do collection are more than two dozen vintage wedding gowns, a number of tuxedos and [...]

Dates: March 2018 About: A curated show of art from more than two dozen women artists on the theme of women and the search for wisdom through the ages. Works depict Joan of Arc, Mary Magdalene, St. Hildegard of [...]

Dates: February 2018 About: Looking back on 40 years of celebrating black history in Petaluma, with the founding of Petaluma Blacks for Community Development and the Petaluma Museum Association in 1978. The exhibit reflects on the accomplishments of the [...]

Dates: June through September 2017About: Inspired by recent scholarship and an exhibition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, thePetaluma Museum Association took stock of the PHL&M’s early portrait collection and realized whattreasures had been resting in the offsite storage boxes. [...]