Fick Fossil & History Museum — Attraction in Oakley

We had intended on making this a quick stop to fill the day, but ended up spending a while here. It is bigger than you might think and is full of so many interesting and somewhat unrelated things- yes the fossils are there, but there's also a ton of art by Ms Fick made FROM fossils (small bivalves and shark teeth) that is super creative. There are rocks, minerals, historical buildings with dressed up mannequins that fit the period, old tools like sod cutters and ice saws, an old fire engine and a crazy collection of pencils. We thought it was fabulous and captured our attention. It shares a building with the library which is also really nice! I bought many books on the same table, my boys enjoyed a little bit of computer time, and I chatted up the librarian about the Seed Savers books after finding a seed catalog. ...

This museum is attached to the library. It has so much to see. History of the town and area, art and lots of fossils and rocks. The Fick's own property by Monument Rocks which is where they discovered the fossils on display here. As well as over 20,000 shark teeth. Mrs. Fick started making art from the fossils and teeth since there were so many. Very interesting stuff. It's also free. Definitely worth a look around. They do close for lunch so make sure to account for that. I would recommend stopping here before going to Monument Rocks to get the history of the area first and making that trip even...

Wonderful little stop on a road trip! Great place for the kids to stretch their legs and learn a few things at the same time. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable. The fossils and other items were arranged well and the whole environment was relaxed. We spent about an hour looking at everything. My kids loved sitting in the old fire truck and on the little triceratops. My husband enjoyed the military memorabilia and fossils, and I loved the historic medical supplies. They run on donation, so definitely consider stopping in and maybe donating...