Museum of Sonoma County

Lovely museum! There are two separate buildings with different galleries & a sculpture garden. Friendly staff. Highly recommend a visit!

Small interesting museum space located in a former U.S. Postal Office building. The first airmail in the US flew out of Sonoma County in 1911, when Fred Wiseman flew from Petaluma to Santa Rosa, delivering mail, newspapers, and other items. This flight is considered the first airmail delivery sanctioned by a U.S. postLots of good

A good museum to stop. I visited the Museum of Sonoma County and was pleasantly surprised by its charming exhibits. The blend of art and history offered a great insight into the region's culture. It’s a cozy spot that’s definitely worth a visit.

Small with one exhibit area under development. Main exhibit in the art museum was about low rider culture. Separate building next door for history (admission covers both) has nice coverage of local history from indigenous peoples through the 20th century.

The museum including 2 main building the classic old and modern building, classic one in 2 floors including precious painting from over 100 years ago to the more current items on upstairs. There’re also a lot of informative equipments like touch screens and audio systems which explain the county history and story of immigrants and population. There is an exhibition of wooden art works in the next building too which is valuable, take a look at my pictures, please.

I highly recommend that you also make a plan to come visit this special place. It is one of those places that it is very important to look back and see where things are now and foresee the future in our community, our place of worship, a place to serve in service to others and a place to reside. A of place work , place to raise our children and a special place to live our lives and a place to leave it behind. Sonoma County is a beautiful place with vibrant people in its historical background. Come to visit it yourself!

Enjoyed the Julia Childs exhibit and reading all of the correspondence between Julia and Paul. A great stop before dinner! What a wonderful life they lead.

Small but nicely laid out museum of local area history housed in a hundred year old post office built following the 1906 earthquake. Exhibits do a nice job of showcasing historical and cultural events. From native American, Mexican/European conflicts, through 20th century to modern high points

A hidden gem of museums. Check out the discounts for residents, seniors etc. They were very helpful and kind.

Apparently, every second Saturday of the month, this particular museum does a free exhibit day along with the art museum alongside! I'm glad we decided to go!! There's free parking at the mall, otherwise out in front you have to pay and there's a two or four hour limit I forget. The free parking is always better! Lol. The museum is small, but very thorough in details of how the museum itself used to be the first post office ever in Sonoma County!! It got a facelift after the 1908 earthquake and a more recent years was turned into a museum! They kept everything authentic and Built to the beautiful 1800 standards! I found it very interesting learning about The Postal Service as well as the working fault that we're still in the museum itself!! I really liked going upstairs and all the interactive kiosk they added that gave tree information about the times and how all of this land was once Mexico, as well inhabited by the native people. It was all stolen land once it was signed over to the United States, and all the people of the land came with it. I also liked some of the more modern takes on things with the local companies that donated items like the beer from up north! Lol I'm sure in time everyone will know how delicious their beer is and venture up north moore to wait in line for hours to try! Lol I also really enjoyed the museum done by local students across the way! I would definitely like to check out this museum again!! Also, I loved eating downtown and found a lot of places that were in great walking distance from the museum alongside the mall!

I have to say this was by far one of the best exhibitions I've seen in a long time. We are artists & curators and the work was absolutely amazing. Well done Sonoma

Great museum to learn about Sonoma history. The first floor currently undergoing prep for a new exhibit. We have museum reciprocity with DeYoung Museum membership so entrance fee was waived. Upstairs in the beautiful ex post office and court building is an exhibit of the early settlers to Sonoma and other immigrants who arrived decades later to become part of the fabric of Sonoma. We listened to few of the recorded interviews by local residents who contributed to the history of Sonoma. There are also displays of artifacts from local First Nation baskets to clothing, shoes and other archeological findings in Sonoma. When you exit this building, right next to it is the museum with contemporary art, both are part of the same admission. You show your receipt to get in to the 2nd venue. We saw some nice pieces aside of the large sculpture ones outside. The theme was about equilibrium and balance. There are bathrooms at both place. I liked this exhibit from artists all over the country.

I can't believe I've not visited this local museum before. Although it's small there is a lot to see. We went to view the dia de los Muertos exhibit which was fabulous. We also ventured upstairs where we learned quite a bit about the history of Sonoma County. We used our Discover & Go free pass from the library- what a super deal!

What a treat - had not been here before but took a docent led tour with a small group and it was wonderful. Thanks so much to our docent, Peter, who knew so much and obviously loved the area and what he does! The current exhibit is from the 60's 70's "free love" hippie period (of which I was a part). The exhibit was excellent and a great walk down memory lane. A true to gem to have in our community.

Very nice staff and well organized exhibitions of local artists and historical artifacts

Finally I bit the bullet to become a museum member last night. Have visited a dozen shows over the past few years, always enjoyed them so I rationalized that supporting the museum as a member was worthwhile. The smaller gallery in the old post office is quaint. The building oozes history. Go upstairs to view the semi-permanent exhibition of some 19th century artifacts. The bigger gallery in the former Conklin brothers flooring store shows more extensive and larger object exhibitions. Shows rotate frequently. Admission prices for non-members range from $7 to $15. A visit here is a fun way to spend and hour or 2. Especially for far flung visitors who want to taste an authentic insider's appreciation of Sonoma county.

Outstanding gallery, exhibitions, design, staff, easy access, gift shop, education, live this place. Go. Now. Today. Don't wait.

This is a great museum in downtown Santa Rosa,part history museum, part art museum. As of March 2014, it is currently expanding into the former Conklin Bros. building next door, which will greatly increase their space. We go here periodically depending on what the rotating or guest exhibit may be and always enjoy it. The place is worth a look for the building itself, a magnificent historic former Federal Building and Post Office, built after the 1906 earthquake, completed in 1910, and moved a few blocks to its current location in about 1979 . They have some permanent displays and rotating exhibits plus they also get guest exhibits from other places such as The Tsar's Cabinet, a display of ceramics and other artwork from the Imperial Russian court. They have displays on local American Indian culture and basketry, Fort Ross (Russian colony in the county from 1812-1841), more local history, the artist Cristo, who had done his Running Fence in the county in the early 70s (the museum has a significant collection of art and items related to him), plus a collection of sculptures outside. There is a neat little gift shop, too.

The Sonoma County Museum is great to visit on a somewhat rainy afternoon. It's in an odd location, next to the parking garage for the mall, a tattoo parlor and a huge music store. Their "In the Tsar's Cabinet" exhibit is spectacular. It was coordinated with the Smithsonian. One can see ornamental porcelain from Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, figurines representing various Russian ethnic groups, the military themes of Nicholas I, and Alexander I's fascination with traditional Russian customs. One can see why Leo Tolstoy admired Alexander I-since the theme in his porcelain are glorified peasants. Besides, Tolstoy described "War and Peace" as "the psychological romance of Czar Alexander I and Napoleon"-perfectly fitting in the Bay Area. One can also see the treasure trove of Nicholas II and Alexandra. Nicholas II's grandnephew lives in Marin County, so the treasures of Russia's last Czar are from the family collection. Spectacular and beautiful!

Sonoma County Museum is a gem located in the heart of the Wine Country. The Museum focus is on Art and History with changing Exhibits. Not to be missed, between sipping Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Recent exhibit of Chuck Close was very cool and I can't wait for the upcoming Map exhibition. A great way to spend the afternoon!

I've wanted to go to the Sonoma County Museum for years and I finally got around to it. I checked their website before I went and saw the exhibits they had featured but I *assumed* - I know, mistake, that they would have some sort of permanent collection with artifacts/history of Sonoma County it being... the Sonoma County Museum and all. But... nope. So, I paid $7 to see an exhibit about the history of bicycling and Filipino immigration to the US. Now, the Filipino exhibit was kinda cool but it had so few artifacts! Isn't that the point of going to a museum over reading information in a book? $7 for these two exhibits was ridiculous. I did venture out to the sculpture garden as well but it just felt odd overlooking the beautiful Santa Rosa Plaza parking garage... put a hedge up or something! The old post office building the museum is situated in is pretty cool and has some interesting architecture.

This turned out to be a smallish - but very nice - museum in a historic building. The staff were very friendly and helpful. On my visit (in 12/2013), the museum featured a very good exhibit on photographs of Mexico (loanded by SF MOMA), and an exhibit on Native American baskets designed to carry and cradle infants. There was also a sculpture garden, which was particularly welcome since the weather that day was beautiful.

Good place to take your kids to it. To learn history but today we went there it was about Korea. Very nice painting..

In a former post office building, the entire second floor contained the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum exhibit which was heavy with reproductions. I was interested in seeing the Harry Dixon Arts & Crafts metalwork exhibit, but it fit in one tiny room. The main gallery had a contemporary art temporary exhibit called "Tools at Art" and there is a sculpture garden outside. Both were okay. During my entire visit to Napa and Sonoma County, this was the only destination where finding free parking posed a challenge. Should you need to plug a parking meter, our visit took 25 minutes.

The charming venue (the museum is housed in a former post office), friendly staff, and exhibits featuring local talent make this a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours. The museum is small but it means an intimate and unpretentious experience for the viewer. Photography is even allowed. I brought along my 7 month old baby and felt perfectly at ease. There were only a few other visitors at the time, and the atmosphere just felt so relaxed. The gift shop had a cute, well-edited selection given it's limited space. We live about 90 minutes away but I look forward to future excursions here, along with lunch at one of the nearby restaurants.

Excellent little museum. We *really* liked the creativity & humor of the "Tools as Art" exhibit, as well as the extensive visiting exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, "Mail Call," highlighting the history of military mail. Fun gift shop, too. And the historic setting adds to the experience.

A long time resident of Sonoma County, I finally visited the Sonoma County Museum and found it very disappointing. Yes, the building is interesting and the staff were friendly and helpful, but the exhibit, CAMELLIA HAS FALLEN: CONTEMPORARY KOREAN ARTISTS REFLECT ON THE JEJU UPRISING, was a disjointed presentation, and seemed to be more of a rant against the US military at the time of the Korean War than a reflective historical presentation of those years. The Indian basketry/papoose presentation was the only other exhibit and it was the highlight of my visit. It is a well done historical presentation of the California Indians raising their children, their culture and art, but the lighting was terrible; overhead exhibit lights reflected off the plexiglass right into the printed portions, making them difficult to read. I won't return unless I receive a personal recommendation for a particular exhibit. Parking is easy. You can park right across the street in the shopping center garage for free for 90 minutes.