Santa Monica History Museum, California, United States

4Corb2000 5:00 PM Jul 9, 2017

Contains exhibits covering several different aspects of local history
We were keen to understand the history of the Santa Monica area and this small museum attached to the library provided some interesting insights into how the city developed. It comprises several disparate elements, each covering an entirely different aspect of local history. While it did not provide a single cohesive narrative as we walked through, we were happy to spend a couple of hours there. Good points: + A quiet, tranquil space away from the bustle of central Santa Monica + Friendly and helpful staff + Interesting exhibits + Two accessible toilets close to the exhibition space Not so good points: - Rather disjointed with multiple themed areas rather than a single historical narrative or timeline (I thought that the KCRW radio exhibits were overly dominant and out of place, this element would have worked better as a separate side room rather than occupying so much of the main space) - In contrast to the dominance of the KCRW exhibits, the Native American / 'pre history' section was confined to a fairly small side room and could usefully include far more on local flora, fauna, geography and geology as context for the subsequent development of the City - I would have liked to have seen more exhibits covering the City's airport and aircraft industry - Little of interest for children

4707clayg 5:00 PM Jul 13, 2019

GREAT SMALL LOCAL MUSEUM
The museum is located in the libruary complex and the parking is very reasonable, it cost us $2.00 to park for over one hour visit to the museum. The museum entrance fee is also reasonable, the staff very friendly and helpful. The rotating exibit now is about Route 66 and is really well done on local history and the road history as well. I have been to a lot of Route 66 museums along the road and this one has some of the best history of the route of any and has exibits of stuff I have not seen anywhere else. Well done!! The other halls of the museum cover different piriods of Santa Monica history from before the Spanash to present, with nice exibits, good signage and presentation. We visited on a Friday morning and were the only visitors in the museum the hour we visited. If you are in the area and want to learn about the local history this is a must visit museum.