Last updated: 12/27/2011
528 West "D" Street
Lemoore, CA 93245
P.O. Box 413
Lemoore, CA 93245
Free - but we do accept donations.
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Linda Atkinson
phone: 559-924-4625
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Our museum tells the story of the development of California Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley through the story of one of our early pioneer families, Aaron & Sarah Mooney, who arrived by train coming from New York in 1877. On their way they stopped in Coldwater, Michigan and adopted their beautiful daughter, Harriet. Upon arriving in Lemoore the Mooneys opened a Mercantile and later took up an interest in the local lumberyard with their son-in-law, Charles Bailey (Lemoore's first Mayor), and also operated a small farm. In addition, Mr. Mooney served the community by serving as the town "Undertaker". Mrs. Mooney served faithfully by his side until he died in 1912 with Mrs. Mooney following him in death in 1925.
By maintaining this beautiful 1890s adobe brick Victorian Queen Anne home and its outbuildings, we are able to keep our local history alive. Not only is the oral history interesting, but the house presents a wonderful feeling of hominess with many visitors expressing that they would "just like to move in."
Currently, we are in the process of raising the funds to take the carriage house with Mr. Mooney's attached office back to its original state now that we have a wonderful historic road/mountain wagon to fill the space. It is also our dream to reconstruct the old tank house, convert the small basement to a root cellar and continue replacing some of the missing embellishment to the exterior of the house.
After Mrs. Mooney's death in 1925 the house remained in the family and became a rental for the next fifty years. Then in 1974 the family decided to donated the house to the Lemoore Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of it becoming a museum. From that day forward with a board of trustees at the helm the community has chipped in with funds, local artifacts and services to make the Sarah A. Mooney Memorial Museum absolutely delightful.
95 % of the house is setup with local artifacts donated by various local & historic families. Very few items have been purchased at antique stores. The home has the look and feel as it once did more than one hundred years ago. However, we do change disp
We have an impressive collection of local history books, school annuals, family histories, perodicals and death records. Through our collection we have had great success in assisting visitors with discovering information about their ancestors. All of the
Currently, educational programs are being developed. We do offer docent training and work with teachers who desire to know more about local history. At this time there are not fees for any tour or program we present. We have two major fundraisers throughout the year and happily accept all donations.
Access: General Public
Appointment required: Yes
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