About the Hamilton Museum
Located between Coachella Valley and the coastal communities of Southern California, the Hamilton Museum is a one of a kind facility that gives a visitor an idea of the unique western lifestyle the prevailed in the local mountain communities until recent years.
Through old photos, documents, artifacts and a restored homestead house, visitors explore the past, learning how Cahuilla people and early settlers lived before the arrival in the 1950's, of paved roads, electricity and telephones.
Hamilton Museum and Ranch Foundation, a California non-profit corporation was formed in the Spring of 2002 and has rapidly become an important asset to Anza and the surrounding mountain communities. A twice yearly arts and crafts fair has become a favorite event.
Many community organizations utilize the museum in one way or another. Visitors, students performing community service, and those conducting historical research have all found the museum to be a rich source of information.
The Hamilton Museum and Ranch Foundation Mission Statement
To educate the general public regarding the history and development of the Aguanga, Anza, Garner Valley, Lake Riverside, Pinyon and Terwilliger areas. The means of providing such education includes, but is not limited to, developing and maintaining a museum and demonstrating projects that depict the area's history.
"Working with the community to preserve the past."
The significance of the Hamilton Museum
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1. According to diaries, Juan Bautista de Anza crossed this property in the 1700's.
2. It was the first property to be homesteaded when land became available in 1909.
3. The Contreras House was the first house in Anza to have indoor plumbing.
4. Lincoln Hamilton, the grandson of James Hamilton bought the property in 1945.
5. The first deep irrigation well was dug on the property by Lincoln Hamilton in 1949. This completely changed the way agriculture was done from dry farming to irrigated farming.
Four main areas to explore at the Hamilton Museum
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1. The Contreras House was built in 1924/1925 and is furnished like it might have been in the 1930's and 1940's.
2. The Hamilton House was built in 1964, and holds artifacts displaying the history of the area.
3. The farm machinery and barn are left over from when this was a working farm.
4. The Native Garden contains many plants used by the Cahuilla people for food and other uses. There you will also see what is left of an American Indian kish.
