HOURS: Saturdays & Sundays, 1-4pm — February through November
The Anderson Valley History Museum is located just a half-mile northwest of Boonville, at 12340 Highway 128, and is easily viewable from the road. Our three historic museum buildings are packed with fascinating artifacts and exhibits.
Join us on September 15, 2024 at 2pm for another Valley Chat as Richard McAbee whose great grandfather, John Westley McAbee first settled in Yorkville and eventually purchased the town of Boonville in 1871(store, saloon, hotel and blacksmith shop) shares stories about the McAbee family’s journey across the plains and their many years of living in Anderson Valley.
The Anderson Valley History Museum is the crown jewel of the Anderson Valley Historical Society. The museum also features displays highlighting the lives of the early settlers to the Valley, our extensive farming, ranching and fruit-growing heritage, dating back to the 1880s, and our region’s rich Native American culture. We have photos, records, furniture and clothing, and items of daily life of all kinds, all donated by Anderson Valley’s families. These displays give our museum a profound personal touch, a feeling that you are stepping back in time to experience life as it’s been lived by generations of Valley people. And of course, we have lots of information about Boontling, the unique and quirky local language that’s such an important and entertaining part of Anderson Valley’s colorful history.
Our centerpiece is the one-room schoolhouse building, affectionately known locally as the Little Red Schoolhouse. First called the Con Creek Schoolhouse, the school was built in 1891. The children of lumberjacks, sheep farmers and fruit growers attended class there for almost ninety years, right up to 1979.
Logo design by Martha Cooley Crawford Design Matters
Search Anderson Valley Graveyards
through Find-A-Grave
You can now search identified markers in four graveyards on the Anderson Valley Graveyards page and through Mendocino County Records.
Anderson Valley is located in Mendocino County, a two hour drive north of San Francisco. Highway 128 stretches between Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway.