Museum: Cultural Collections

Collage of cultural artifacts and objects in the museum's collections facility: historic bottles, 16th and 19th century porcelain sherds, 19th century clothing accessories, Morgan Horse Ranch objects, lighthouse tools, shipwreck objects, and Coast Miwok dance regalia replicas.

NPS / Point Reyes National Seashore Museum

The museum staff maintains the cultural collection at Point Reyes National Seashore for exhibition, education, research, resource management, and interpretive exhibits at the park's visitor centers. These artifacts and objects help tell the stories of all peoples who made the Point Reyes area home.

• Archeology and Ethnology collections account for over 12,380 of the objects in the park's collection. The archeology collection mainly represents the material culture of the ancestors of the Coast Miwok peoples.
• Historical objects in the cultural collections number over 890 and represent the 16th through 20th centuries with European exploration era artifacts; Mexican era culture; maritime commerce and culture, commercial fishing, communications and shipwrecks; and ranching on the peninsula.
• Art is a new collecting area for the Point Reyes National Seashore Museum. At present, the art collection contains 56 etchings, drawings, and paintings mostly depicting life on the peninsula prior to photography. Other artwork depicts maritime themes and ship diagrams.
• The Archives has over 754,690 records in its collections. These include the photographs and negatives collection; RCA and radio history; maps, plans, and drawings; oral history media and transcriptions; special collections; park resource management records; and Point Reyes National Seashore administrative records.

The museum's collections and archives are available for research and education. Please visit our Museum and Archives Research Services (MARS) for more information on access policies, and/or to request an appointment.