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About Benicia Historical Museum

Location:

2060 CAMEL RD, BENICIA, CA 94510, US

Mission Statement

The Mission of the Benicia Historical Museum is to engage the community and the greater public in the evolving history of Benicia and its contributions to the development of our state and country. Dedicated to our children and future generations, our work fosters understanding, connectivity, identity, and pride. The Museum complex is at the heart of Benicia’s historic preservation and heritage promotion programs through its exhibits, educational outreach, events and activities, and online archives.

Description

The job of collecting artifacts began in 1975 and the items were stored in several locations until our current site in the Arsenal became available. The Benicia City Council dedicated the Camel Barn complex on December 7th, 1982. The Museum was formally dedicated on May 19th, 1985 and has been open continuously since that time.

The name, Camel Barn Complex, comes from a chapter in Benicia’s contribution to US Military history. In the 1850’s and 1860’s, the US Army experimented using camels, imported from the Mideast, as pack animals. After the advent of the Civil War the experiment was abandoned. The remaining camels were shipped to the Benicia Arsenal where they were auctioned to the public. You can read more about this brief period of history that gave the area its name in our section on Benicia & Arsenal History.