Explore the Museum Complex and our Permanent Exhibits
Stagecoach Inn
Travel back in time to the late 1800s, when the West was still wild and the Conejo Valley’s wide-open spaces beckoned to pioneers. Step into the parlour of the Stagecoach Inn, where costumed docents will lead you on a guided tour and entertain you with tales of history and legend.
Rooms at the Inn are decorated with antique furnishings and display all the awesome knick knacks that Victorians loved. The elegant dining room is set for dinner and the Innkeepers' rooms upstairs are fitted out just as they would have been in 1876. Many items were donated by the families of original Conejo Valley pioneers.
Timber School
The Timber School, a replica of the one-room schoolhouse that served the Conejo Valley from 1888, is complete with blackboards, desks, an organ and a woodstove. Come inside and get some "book larnin'." Kids may sit at an antique desk, use a slate, and ring the Timber School bell. Imagine the fun to be had attending class here back in the day (when teachers had a ruler to rap knuckles and gave lashes to rule-breakers!)
Carriage House and Blacksmith Shop
Mosey over to the Carriage House to see the stagecoaches and learn about Charley Parkhurst, aka “One-eyed Charley,” known as one of the best stagecoach drivers in California (but ‘Ol Charley has a secret… see if you can find out what it is!).
The Blacksmith Shop has a working forge where you may find the smithy at work, pounding hot metal into tools and trinkets. Ask about our Blacksmith Training and freshly forged items for sale in the Emporium.
Chumash Village, Spanish Adobe, and Newbury Pioneer House
At the Tri-Village exhibit, you can have a look inside dwellings that reflect the three historic eras of occupation and settlement in the Conejo Valley: Chumash, Spanish, and Pioneer. Explore more and you'll also find the Nature Trail and our 300-year-old Sycamore Tree.
Anderson Exhibit Hall
Chumash, Fossils, and Natural History The Russell Library
Head downstairs at the Stagecoach Inn to Anderson Hall, where an extensive collection of replicated and archaeological artifacts of the Chumash are housed. Exhibits display tools, intricate baskets, games, and everyday use items, as well as fossils unearthed in the Conejo Valley. The Russell Library has shelves of books related to Conejo Valley history and exhibits at the museum, all waiting for you to turn their pages.
Crank Up the Music!
Talking Machines
Upstairs in the Stagecoach Inn is the Kilbourne Collection of "Gramophones, Graphophones, Phonographs, Grafonolas, Victrolas, Amberolas, and various other items related to the beginnings of recorded music". Listen to My Merry Oldsmobile played on a hand-cranked Graphophone!
Forget me Knot...
Ornamental Hairwork, Past and Present
In 18th- and 19th-century Europe and America, a lock of hair was a treasured memento, signifying love, affection, and friendship. Jewelry fashioned to hold hair was worn to mourn or commemorate a deceased person, or it could be exchanged between two people as a one- of-a-kind sentimental reminder of a loving relationship. Our extensive collection of ornamental hairwork provides an up-close and intimate look at a forgotten art. Forget me Knot...A most unique exhibit upstairs at the Stagecoach Inn Museum.
A Wrinkle in Time
Washing, drying, starching, ironing, mending - caring for our clothes once took two full days of back-breaking labor every week. What motivated women to tackle “the herculean task which all women dread”, even in the most exhausting conditions?
With antique irons and laundry tools galore, this hands-on exhibit invites you to explore "women's work" and social hierarchies, patents and the age of electricity, and the development of household technology.
Heritage Rose Garden
Our rose garden might have graced the Stagecoach Inn during its turn-of-the-century heyday. The garden offers an overview of Old Roses suitable for Ventura County. Enjoy the garden for its beauty and history. Perhaps you'll decide to devote part of your own garden to these graceful survivors of another era.
Heritage Oak Grove
The Heritage Oak Grove is a quiet place to sit among young Coast Live Oak trees and learn about the magnificent centuries-old specimen that once graced this spot. Here you will find rustic seating fashioned from the mighty oak’s limbs, as well as sections of her broad trunk telling her history through the day she was felled for safety reasons on February 5, 2021.
Check out the beautiful forty-year young oak planted in her stead, dedicated as she was to Guy Runyon, a long-time friend of the museum. Make a donation to our Heritage Oak Fund Raising Campaign and participate in helping the museum grow alongside this lovely new tree. Our progress towards the current year’s goal will be charted on our growth tracker and contributions will be used along with matching grants from Conejo Recreation and Parks District for museum improvements, renovations, and restorations.
Relax and enjoy our Heritage Oak video series using our QR Code signage and your Smart Phone when onsite or by clicking the learn more button below.
Our beloved heritage oak remains always in our hearts…
Take a Hike
The Museum’s five-acre site has more to explore than the Victorian interiors of the Stagecoach Inn. Next time you’re hankerin’ for a breath of fresh air, come ramble over our trail system. The trails are all short but offer a nice change of pace for a lunch break, an after-school visit, or an afternoon when you just gotta stretch your legs outdoors.
The “Runaway Stage Trail” serves up some elevation gain and goes above the tree canopy, offering views of Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, and the surrounding hills. From the top, you can see Tarantula Mountain in Thousand Oaks. The trail takes you to the edge of our property line, then drops down to the Chumash Village. Detour to the left here, and you’ll find a 300-year-old sycamore tree.
The lower Nature Trail follows the creekbed under the oaks, crosses four bridges, and brings you to steps leading up to the Adobe. Look for the plant markers identifying vegetation native to the Conejo Valley.
For an easy stroll, walk along the Heritage Rose Garden and Farm Trails (suitable for little folks too). You’ll meander through Victorian roses and into an oak glade. Check out the antique farm equipment, and memorial bricks that honor museum volunteers and community leaders. There are benches and picnic tables for relaxing.
