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Santa Barbara Historical Museum
136 East De la Guerra
Santa Barbara, California, 93101


Our mission is to inspire meaningful connections to Santa Barbara history. 

We love Santa Barbara history!  Generous individuals like you can help sustain the Museum all year long.  We hope you will consider a year-end gift to further this cause.  Because of you, we’ve been able to serve our community in many ways:

  • Accessibility!  We welcome thousands of people of all ages to the Museum every year!
    From our free talks to History Happy Hour, hands-on art demonstrations and compelling programming, we strive to be reach as many people as we can.
  • Family friendly!  This past summer we introduced our first children’s interactive exhibition, The Haunted Mirror.  We’re receiving rave reviews from parents, teachers and most importantly kids.
  • Personal!  From sharing memories through Project Fiesta!, to helping thousands of people explore their roots in our Gledhill Library, your history is alive and vibrant here.
  • Authentic!  Art, artifacts, costumes and more... Our original exhibitions invite exploration and research of our beautiful city.

The Museum earned the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency in 2018 and has maintained it since.  Thank you to all who support our efforts.


History is the account of thing said and done in the past. In this sense, each of us has a history – an account of where we come from and how we got to be who we are. Communities, likewise, each have a history.  So too, do nations, families, and human groups of every sort.

History serves is in many ways. It can inspire us with stories of exemplary lives or caution us with tales of human folly and wickedness. History can inform and educate us by providing the context and perspective that allow is to make thoughtful decisions about the future. And history has the power to delight and enrich us, enlarging and intensifying the experience of being alive.                                                                                                            ~AASLH