randsburg museum

If you need to know about the history of the Rand District, you're in luck.You're going to find a true desert gem in the "real live ghost town" of Randsburg (Eastern Kern County, California): The Rand Desert Museum.The capable docents Ann Pruett & Bart Parker oversee a rich collection of memorabilia, historical records, photographs, and mining specimens. You won't be disappointed.I grew up in Randsburg, never dreaming there would one day be a great place to go to learn about the Rand District's rich, interesting past.I'm proud of this institution.Jim Petersen

Here's some hard to find information:Open weekends only (plus major holiday Mondays) 10AM-4PM. Location: 161 Butte Ave.Info from the Kern County 2013-2014 Official visitors guide, page 28.

A great day trip to a neat place, lots of fun. Shoot outs,mini swap-meet,antiques 4 sale, Museum car show,food,cold drinks lots more. Gets bigger & better every year.

For a small museum it was packed full of historical artifacts. Well worth a visit. Make sure to leave a donation to help keep this valuable resource alive.

The museum is great; and there is a picnic shelter and "bathrooms" on the side. While you're here, visit the whole town! Walk up and down the main street (Butte St.). BTW, this is where the movie "Chopper Chicks from Zombie Town" was shot (What -- you never saw that one?) There are many antique/junk shops worth visiting, as well as an old jail cell. There are hitching rails, although there are dirt bikes parked instead of horses. The General Store has a 100+ year old soda fountain counter -- yes, you can still get an old-time soda and food there. Summer is obviously not a great time to visit, except in the morning. It can snow in the winter. High winds can sweep the area. Check the weather -- you have been warned! Some shops are open only on weekends. If you've got this far, drive up Butte St. and go over the hill, past old mine "head-frames" and hoists, cutting over to Hwy. 395. This is Red Mountain. Turn left (North) and visit Johannesburg (the old cemetery has some interesting "residents," such as Burro Schmidt (the famous tunneler). Old mines and shafts dot the hills. There is another road leading west from 395 back to Randsburg, making a full circle.

The whole town is a museum, but the Randsburg Museum is the place to go for information. The building is cool, surrounded by rocks, rock foundation & fence and old gold mining equipment. Inside you can spend hours looking at pictures, rocks and information, and if you want more information, the person running it knows more than I could ever retain!It has all kinds of interesting rock samples, some very amazing. Even if you don't like Rocks, it will impress you.Inside the building looks old, like the town, but don't let that bother you. When I focused on the exhibits, I got lost in the gold mining era and loved every minute we were there.Best to go in spring, winter and fall as summer is quite hot, but still do-able. While there, don't miss going to the General Store!Randsburg, a real mining town that people still live in, so do respect their home spaces.We take our friends to Randsburg when they visit us. Enjoy.