Butte County Historical Society Museum — Attraction in Oroville

The BCHS is a community focused gathering place for anyone, young and old alike. They have established a monthly guest speaker program that allows local citizens an opportunity to present topics that are near and dear to their hearts.

Everything from the Wells Fargo stage coach robber Black Bart ( he only robbed Wells Fargo stagecoaches. And even then just for their strong boxes - usually contained gold or cash - but never robbed any of the passengers or drivers themselves. With an unloaded shotgun as his weapon of choice ! ) to local railroad history, to the history of the large gold rush era Chinatown that was located in downtown Oroville, of course the gold rush era itself. The list is long.

But that's once a month. In addition the main museum is open on Fridays and Saturdays. Maybe most important of all, the BCHS now has a large archives building that is open those days as well. Digitized news clippings have become my favorite source when conducting my own research. But there are many different sources of research material available. Best to contact them direct for your specific needs.

The BCHS now also owns the Ehmahn house in Oroville. Google Mrs Ehmahn if you want to learn about the history of preserved olives. It started in Oroville CA and she was the driving force behind a new way to "pickle", then can olives for mass public consumption. The Oregon City school house is a one room school that served children of miners around the Table Mountain area just north of town. Always an interesting stop. And you can also visit a nearby covered bridge related to the construction of bridges of that era . Lots to see and do if you visit the BCHS!!

PS. Don't forget to check out the Thermalito Oddfellows Home exhibit while you're there. An interesting backstory and one heck of a place...

I wasn't expecting anything fancy, but the museum exceeded all expectations. What a hidden gem! I can't believe I've lived in Oroville for over 20 years and didn't know about this cool museum that showcases the entire history of Oroville. Turns out the building used to be a church. Not very many people seem to make it out here, but if you're a history buff, it's definitely worth checking out on a Friday or Saturday. If it's locked, just go into the archives building next door and tell them to want to see the museum and they'll open it for you. There's tons of neat artifacts, photographs, paintings and information about different places and events in Butte County, though a lot of it was focused on the Oroville area. Docents were friendly and knowledgeable. There's also a small shop with books, pamphlets, maps and trinkets. The museum is free, but I gave them a $5.00 donation, because it really is a cool museum. I wish they paid...

Honestly I've never been inside the place. I'm just a big nerd 🤓 bc I play Pokémon Go & this place, which is a Pokéstop (a place where u can get more balls to catch Pokémon) just happens to be convienently located a block away from my house, so wen ever I run out of balls I just run over to there real quick to get me s'more balls so I can get to hunting. Bcuz well, u gotta catch em...