Pasadena Museum of History

The Pasadena Museum of History preserves and shares the rich history, art and culture of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley through dynamic exhibitions, educational programs, and the area’s most comprehensive Research Library and Historical Archive.

The Museum’s two-acre campus includes architecturally significant period buildings offering visitors a living history experience, elegantly landscaped gardens, and a History Center housing the library/archive and exhibit space. Drawing from its vast collection of photographs, rare books, manuscripts, maps, architectural records, costumes, paintings and artifacts, the Pasadena Museum of History presents a range of public programs for children and adults that addresses our diverse and multifaceted community.

Flowing Waters, Fruitful Valley
Flowing Waters, Fruitful Valley explores the link of water to the economic vitality and environmental richness of Pasadena and the western San Gabriel Valley. A recurrent theme in the history of the West, the need and pursuit of water—“white gold”—has played a crucial role in the success and development of our area. Using models, equipment, photographs, key documents and interactive features, the exhibition tells the story of water-related issues, people and sites.

Flowing Waters, Fruitful Valley is accompanied by a variety of educational programming, including lectures and bus tours to important sites and a celebration of Tongva/Gabrielino music, dance, arts and crafts.

Connecting Art and the Land
In November the Museum and the Armory Center for the Arts invite families to an art workshop. You and your family will first learn about the Arroyo Seco in Flowing Waters, Fruitful Valley. Then aboard a bus, you will see first-hand the Arroyo’s natural beauty and how human activity has impacted the area. Finally, explore these issues with professional artists from the Armory. Please see the Schedule of Events for details of all the museum’s programs.

A Link to Our Partners
To explore further how human activity has impacted our environment, visit the exhibition at the Armory Center for the Arts. For a family-friendly, hands-on experience of water, take in the new Children’s Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.