Crescent City · 6th & H Streets downtown · Museum
Del Norte County History Museum
See a 1st-order Fresnel lens from St. George Reef Lighthouse, Tolowa and Yurok baskets and the old jail cells in Crescent City’s 1926 county jail, now a volunteer-run museum.
Opens the Historical Society’s About the Museum page. Admission is paid at the door; the society doesn’t post prices online.
Details checked October 2026
Type
History museum
Run by the Del Norte County Historical Society
Admission
Small fee
About $5 in recent reviews; call to confirm
Hours
Tue–Sat 10 am–4 pm
Closed Sun–Mon, per Google
Time needed
1–2 hours
Two buildings to explore
Parking
Small lot
Downtown; bring the tow car
Built as the jail
1926
County jail until 1963; museum since 1965
What you’ll see
A lighthouse lens, baskets and jail cells
Two buildings packed with Del Norte County history. Volunteers are happy to answer questions.
Watch first
Walk through the whole museum
This unedited walk-through shows how much fits inside the old jail. The main building has the Tolowa and Yurok room, pioneer rooms, a dentist office, barbershop and medical room, and upstairs jail cells turned into displays. Next door, the Bolen Annex holds the Fresnel lens, Brother Jonathan shipwreck artifacts, a logging exhibit and a railroad display.
RV tip: the museum is a 3-minute drive from Lighthouse Cove RV Park, so pair it with Battery Point Lighthouse. Historical Society members get into both free.
More to see
- The Fresnel lensIn the Bolen Annex: the First Order Fresnel lens from St. George Reef Lighthouse, one of the museum’s biggest draws.
- The Tolowa/Yurok roomHome to what the Historical Society calls one of the finest basket collections in Northern California.
- The jail cellsUpstairs, several cells from the old county jail, including the former women’s section, are now display rooms.
- Brother Jonathan artifactsItems recovered from the 1865 wreck of the Brother Jonathan, California’s worst maritime disaster.
Why go
Crescent City’s 1926 county jail
The building at 6th and H Streets opened in 1926 as the county records office, sheriff’s office and jail. It served that role until 1963, when a new sheriff’s station opened. The Del Norte County Historical Society, founded in 1951, remodeled it and opened the museum in 1965. The Bolen Annex was added in the early 1980s.
The star is a First Order Fresnel lens from St. George Reef Lighthouse, which stands on a rock about seven miles offshore. The Historical Society calls it one of the few original working First Order Fresnel lenses in the country. Google reviewers mention the lighthouse lens more than anything else.
There’s also a room on the 1964 tsunami. On March 28, 1964, five waves struck Crescent City, killing 11 people, injuring 24 and destroying 29 city blocks, according to the Historical Society.
Photo: Anita Ritenour on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Why it made our list
- A First Order Fresnel lens up close
- Real jail cells from the 1926 county jail
- Tolowa and Yurok basketry
- 1964 tsunami photos and stories
- Rated 4.7 on Google from 150 reviews
For RVers
Visiting the museum with an RV
The practical stuff we wished someone had told us before we pulled in.
Parking the rig
The museum is downtown at 6th and H Streets. A Yelp reviewer mentions a parking lot behind the building, but it’s a small downtown lot, so leave the big rig at camp and come in the tow vehicle. Lighthouse Cove is just 0.7 miles away.
Plan around the hours
Google lists the museum as open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and closed Sunday and Monday. The Historical Society doesn’t post hours on its website, so call (707) 464-3922 before you go.
Pets stay at camp
The museum is indoors in a historic building. Leave pets at camp, and on warm days don’t leave them in a parked rig.
Pair it with the lighthouse
The Historical Society also runs Battery Point Lighthouse. A membership ($20 a year, or $10 for seniors 55+) includes free admission to both, which can pay for itself for a couple visiting both sites.
What visitors say about Del Norte County History Museum
The visitor report card
We don’t copy other sites’ reviews, but the published scores are worth reading together. Scores checked October 24, 2026.
One of the finest collections of baskets in Northern California.
Del Norte County Historical Society, on its Tolowa/Yurok room · delnortehistory.org
What visitors often mention
Recurring topics in Google reviews
Lighthouse lensLocal historyJail cellsFresnel lens
Google’s review topics point to the lighthouse lens (16 reviews), local history (13), jail cells (9) and the Fresnel lens (8). Checked October 24, 2026.
Minutes from camp to the museum
Google Maps car drive times to 577 H Street, checked October 24, 2026.
Good to know
AdmissionAbout $5 per recent reviews
MembersFree from $10 a year
HoursTue–Sat 10 am–4 pm
Don’t missFresnel lensJail cellsNative baskets
The Historical Society doesn’t publish admission prices or hours online. The fee comes from Tripadvisor and Yelp reviews and the hours from Google, checked October 24, 2026. Membership prices are from delnortehistory.org.
Know before you go
Plan your visit
Del Norte County History Museum
- Address577 H Street, Crescent City, CA 95531
- HoursTue–Sat 10 am–4 pm
Closed Sun–Mon, per Google - Phone(707) 464-3922
- AdmissionPay at the door; members free. About the museum
- Getting thereDowntown Crescent City at the corner of 6th and H Streets, a few blocks off US-101.
- ParkingA small lot behind the building, per a Yelp reviewer; bring the tow car.
Hours aren’t posted on the Historical Society’s website. Google lists Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm; call (707) 464-3922 to confirm before you go.
Where to stay nearby
RV parks near Del Norte County History Museum
These are the Crescent City parks we have written up, closest first. Times are Google Maps car drive times to the museum, checked October 24, 2026.
Lighthouse Cove RV Park
City-run oceanfront full-hookup sites by Battery Point Lighthouse, from $50 a night, a walk to downtown.
Sunset Harbor RV Park
Budget full hookups across US-101 from the harbor, from $35.70 a night or $153 a week; mostly long-term.
Village Camper Inn RV Park
135 full-hookup sites with free cable TV on 22 wooded acres, from $57 a night, two miles from downtown.
Helpful answers
Frequently asked questions
The questions RVers ask most before pulling in.
Tue–Sat 10 am–4 pm · Downtown Crescent City
Ready to see the lens?
Call ahead to confirm hours, bring a few dollars for admission and plan an hour or two.
Thank you to the people behind these photos and videos. Please support them by giving their work a look. Videos: MoronFishing on YouTube (museum visit) and Brimstone667 on YouTube (walk-through). Photo: Anita Ritenour (St. George Reef Lighthouse; CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons; the image was resized. RV park photos: Acroterion on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) and CampgroundViews on YouTube. Review-site logos are trademarks of their owners.
Disclaimer
RV-Roundup is an independent, community-based resource created to help RV travelers and to support and promote the places we feature. RV-Roundup is not owned by, operated by, or officially affiliated with Del Norte County History Museum unless otherwise stated.
The information on this page was prepared using the most current details available at the time of publication, including the Del Norte County Historical Society’s published materials and other public sources. Hours, prices, rules and other details are set by the Historical Society and may change at any time without notice. Before you travel, please confirm details at delnortehistory.org or (707) 464-3922. RV-Roundup is not responsible for errors, omissions, or changes made after publication.
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