Local History: Home

The Antelope Valley Indian Museum is a unique and eclectic folk art structure located in northeastern Los Angeles County. The museum houses objects created by the American Indian cultures of the western Great Basin, California, and the Southwest.

The Beatty Museum and Historical Society is dedicated to the preservation of the history of the Beatty, Nevada area, including the Bullfrog Mining District. The museum presents you with an opportunity to experience life in the early 1900s; learn how the early miners lived, worked and played; venture through the; “Bullfrog Gold Rush” era; and learn about the ghost towns and attractions in the area.

The California Route 66 Museum maintains and displays a collection of historic photographs and artifacts related to the history of Route 66 and it’s communities. The displays include automotive history, cultural and economic impact as well as the development of the highway itself. Exhibitions incorporate corresponding topics such as early pioneer trails and the railroad.

The Desert Explorers is a four-wheel drive (4WD) group within the Mojave River Valley Museum Association. Trips, normally at least once a month, focus on sightseeing (rather than “rock crawling”) and often include an optional hike to explore mines, petroglyph or pictograph sites, old emigrant trails, or other points of interest.

The mission of the Museum is to collect, preserve, and interpret objects and information related to the cultural and natural history of Inyo County and the Eastern Sierra, from Death Valley to Mono Lake.

Museum of the cultural history, natural history and geology of the Northern Mojave Desert emphasizing our Indian Wells Valley. Located in Ridgecrest, California.

To research and conserve the natural and cultural history of the Mojave Desert region for the purpose of preserving and sharing these resources in perpetuity. We accomplish this through operation of a research center, library, and archives, restoration of significant structures, conservation of historic open space, interpretation of backcountry trails, and production of educational guidebooks and historical publications in concert with government agencies and people of good faith everywhere.

Dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the scientific, historical, and cultural heritage of the Mojave Desert.

Protecting, Interpreting and Promoting the Old Spanish National Historic Trail.

The Rand Desert Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the cultural and architectural history of the Rand Mining District and adjacent historic sites in the Upper Mojave Desert Region of California. Information about the communities of Randsburg, Johannesburg, Red Mountain (Osdick), Atolia, Garlock, Saltdale, and Cantil may be found at the museum. In 1942 amateur archaeologists discovered what they believed to be primitive stone tools in this area. Fragments were embedded in the sediments of the shoreline of an ancient Pleistocene Era lake, called Lake Manix.

The Route 66 “Mother Road” Museum was dedicated on July 4, 2000 in the historic Casa del Desierto, Harvey House, in Barstow, California. The Museum displays a collection of historic photographs and artifacts related to Route 66 and the Mojave Desert Communities. Displays include development of the United States Route 66 from early pioneer trails, railroads, automotive history, businesses and sites.

The Searles Valley Historical Society was founded in 1979 as a non-profit corporation. Its primary purpose is to bring together people interested in history, especially in the history of Searles Valley, and to preserve the history of Searles Valley for future generations.

The Society’s mission is to collect, preserve and display information, artifacts and memorabilia pertaining to the culture and history of Twentynine Palms and the greater Morongo Basin.

In this episode of The Big Picture, the story of tank training at Camp Irwin is told through the eyes of a trainee. From the National Archives and Records Administration.

Describes the career of adventurer John Wemple Searles, in particular his discovery of borax at Searles Lake in the Mojave Desert, his foundation of the San Bernardino Borax Mining Company in 1870, and the company's subsequent development, 1870-1962.

Works Project Administration guide to California including Barstow and other information in the Mojave Desert.

Selected in 1933 as a bombing and gunnery range because of its isolated location in the Mojave Desert, Muroc Army Air Base became a major military training and aeronautical testing facility during World War II. The base, later renamed Edwards Air Force Base, remained a major site for testing new aircraft and other aeronautical devices, such as rockets. During its post-1941 "golden age," the site was judged especially desirable because of its isolation, its year-round flying weather, and enormous amounts of flat land afforded by its location on the Rogers Dry Lake bed.

Southern California teenagers join the Mobilgas "Safety and Economy" competition, driving from the Los Angeles area to the Inland Empire, the desert, to Las Vegas, Nevada and Hoover Dam, then back home again.

The article discusses the route taken by John Charles Frémont when traveling the Old Spanish trail in 1844 and the authors' hypothesis and evidence to support their claim. Topics discussed include the trail being pioneered in 1829-1830 by trader Antonio Armijo between the provinces of Nuevo México and Alta California of Mexico, and a map of the trail.

Collection of articles by Richard D. Thompson plus oral histories.

Large collection of historical and archeological articles. Includes articles on local attractions and information about cities in the Mojave Desert.

Articles on the natural history of the desert and philosophy of conservation.

TimeLine of Barstow History created by the Mojave River Valley Museum by Steve Smith and Pat Schoffstall