Santa Maria Valley Historical Society Museum

About Santa Maria Valley Historical Society Museum

The Santa Maria Valley Historical Society Museum preserves and presents the history of the Santa Maria Valley through artifacts spanning all eras of the region's past. Visitors explore exhibits including a mid-1900s telephone switchboard and displays depicting the history of firefighting in town. An entire section honors Capt. G. Allan Hancock, the entrepreneur, oil man, aviator, and philanthropist for whom Allan Hancock College is named. The museum also features an art section dedicated to Darrel A. Froom, a Santa Maria native and sheet metal artisan known for hammering copper objects such as bowls, kettles, and chests, as well as high-relief art pieces and oil paintings. The society, organized in 1955, holds quarterly dinner meetings with historical programs and has published historical books available at the museum. Located in Santa Maria, the museum opened to the public in 1974 on surplus city property, funded by society members committed to honoring the valley's pioneers.