Regional Spotlight On Our Community

Our Vibrant Yuba-Sutter Museums
Save the Date, February 7, 2015: First Annual Yuba Sutter Museum Day!


Kathleen Smith, a descendant of four gold rush families, is co-author of Smartsville and Timbuctoo and the newly released, The Sage of Smartsville: The Collected Stories of George Rigby.


The people of Yuba and Sutter Counties value their history immensely and the historical community here is very diverse from the Native Americans to the Cold War, and everything in between. Understanding our history and preserving it comes in many forms. Some of us like to do research and connect the dots of factual information to see the picture it creates; others preserve historic buildings and make them useful in today’s world while still serving as a reminder of our historic past; some like to study historic characters and present a portrayal of that character at a festival or cemetery tour, while others appreciate architecture and give tours of a neighborhoods or towns. Museums serve as focal points and gathering places for a wide range of artifacts and historical records.

We are fortunate to have four excellent museums in the area, caretaking a wide range of valuable historical material: the Mary Aaron Museum, the Sutter County Memorial Museum, the Museum of Forgotten Warriors and the Chinese-American Museum.

The Mary Aaron Museum is housed in a lovely brick Gothic Revival home built in 1855, located at 704 D Street in downtown Marysville. It contains thousands of items related to the history of Marysville and the surrounding communities (www.maryaaronmuseum.com).

The Sutter County Memorial Museum, located at 1333 Butte House Road in Yuba City, provides an opportunity for us all to experience and participate in the richness of our past through exhibitions, research, school programs, adult and children's programs as well as other activities. The exhibits on our wide range of local ethnic populations are especially compelling (http://www.co.sutter.ca.us/doc/government/depts/museum/museum).

The Museum of Forgotten Warriors is located out near Beale Air Force Base at 5865 A Road, and does a wonderful job to ensure that, in fact, these warriors will not be forgotten. The largest of its kind of the west coast, it contains over 46,000 artifacts ranging from tanks, cannons, and helicopters, to full sized mannequins in service uniforms and even a remnant from a Revolutionary War blanket (http://www.museumoftheforgottenwarriors.org/).

The Chinese American Museum of Northern California, found at the intersection of 1st and C Streets in the old Chinatown of Marysville, is housed is an original gold rush building built in 1858. The focus of the museum has been on the forgotten history of the Chinese in America. The Marysville Chinatown is the last Chinatown of the gold rush era. It still has an active temple, the old Chinese school building, three Chinese associations and the traditional annual Bok Kai festival (http://www.chineseamericanmuseum.com/).

One of my particular specialties is keeping a genealogical tree of the people who were here during the gold rush. Thousands of people came to Yuba and Sutter during that time and returned to their homes for good. Oftentimes when someone researching their genealogy finds their ancestor on that tree, I get inquiries about the place where their ancestor spent time in the gold country and they want to visit and see these places. Those of us who love local history are working now in a more coordinated and cooperative way. In the coming months and years, work like mine will be increasingly integrated in the efforts of our local museums, enriching both the museum assets and the value of the individual research.

I urge you to visit these wonderful local resources. If you think they are always there and you will get around to it one of these days, here is your chance! February 7, 2015 will be free Museum Day, with special one-day-only tours and exhibits. The Playzeum (http://www.yubasutterkids.com/), a emerging children’s museum with wonderful, hands-on experiences for children and families to share together, will also be offering special experiences on that day.

More details on Museum Day will appear in my next Territorial “Spotlight on the Region” article in January. I hope you will take this opportunity to visit and see how the past has contributed to the present. Perhaps it will inspire you to get involved and volunteer at one of these special places. When visitors come from out of town you will be prepared to share these unique treasures with them. And why not add it to you New Year’s resolutions; it may be the most fun and the easiest to keep!