McHenry Museum

I had always wanted to stop in at the McHenry Museum, but I never took the opportunity to go, until recently. The museum hosted an event right before Graffiti Night to kind of kick it off. It was a free event to go inside the museum, and outside were lots of classic cars, trucks, and a few bicycles!! I included lots of photos inside and out!!Well, they had another event last Saturday night! "A night at the McHenry Museum!" What a cute and fun idea!! It was great for all ages. We received a night guard evidence log when we checked in at the front desk! Right before that, we were welcomed by a greeter who opened the door for us.They had nine exhibits with stamps from the people dressed in period or historical costumes. They each gave a little demo or speech about the exhibit they were in. They were all so friendly, and interactive. It really made the scenes come to life! One exhibit was trying to get gold out of the clay rocks, to turn into the cashier for play money, which in turn one could "buy" real candy. I had such a wonderful time. I hope they do this activity again, sometime soon. It would be fun to know about it way in advance, so I could dress up too. That would be really fun! I did not find out about it until a few days before. However, I am so glad I went!

Fun little walk around, the downstairs diner area is a cute photo opt as well. Lots of small antiques so there's plenty to look at, there's also a few informational stops where they have a video explain some history. I would definitely still recommend the place even if you're local just because the displays are very pretty to look at.

McHenry Museum is likely the official Modesto museum with an eclectic collection of historical and artistic exhibits in a classic building. They are located in downtown Modesto with a small parking lot and free admission. The museum has a nice collection of historic Modesto artifacts and exhibits. I always enjoy learning the history of the various cities in California, and Modesto apparently has a rather wild history. The rest of the exhibits focus more on lifestyle items from various historical periods, but the baseball exhibit was pretty fun. Towns need these kinds of places to keep history alive and maintain it for future generations. McHenry is a good start, but it could use some TLC and better direction to become a better destination museum for the region.

We had a great visit to the museum yesterday! We took our 4 year old and 1 year old. While our 1 year old just went along for the ride, our 4 year old really enjoyed it! I had anticipated her being somewhat bored as she doesn't read yet, but our "tour guide" was knowledgeable in the areas history and spent time at each exhibit talking with my daughter and showing her things she would enjoy. She had such a good time and we really enjoyed learning some interesting things about our areas history. I definitely recommend taking your family here and let the wonderful staff give you the walk through!

Great place for the kids. The LEGO wall was way cool. My daughter loved sitting in the spaceship to pretend she was an astronaut. We will be back when she is older to see it again.

Modesto really doesn't have a lot to offer. If you live here then you know there isn't much to do that won't force you to open your wallet and shell out some money. That being said I highly recommend the Modesto Museum! Pull the kids away from the video games and let them see how Modesto once was! It is not the biggest museum but it is filled with lots of different displays. I personally love the down stairs area that has the 50's diner set up and the old appliances. The best thing about it all is it is FREE! . ( But please consider making a donation to help keep the doors open so all can enjoy! ) Which is hard to come by these days!The only thing that bothers me a (tiny) bit is that the hours of operation are kind of odd. I also really really wish the Museum and the McHenry mansion were open on the same days. I like to make a day of it and visit the Museum, McHenry Mansion and the old A&W Drive-In. I hope I have started a tradition in doing so with my daughter and that someday she will do the same with her children!

Really enjoy visiting this place with my daughter. Fun exhibits, and they occasionally do a children's program on Sundays (called First Sundays). Check their website for info: www.mchenrymuseum.org. McHenry Museum has an EXCELLENT gift shop just bursting with fun stuff.

The McHenry museum is quite a find in Modesto! There is A LOT of history here, many small things and a few larger displays. A great assortment of stuff, you could spend a couple of hours just wandering through. They have one room that gets a new display every month or two, and they have some really wonderful displays that come through, well worth checking out.On another note, I held my wedding reception there a couple months ago. A great place to have a reception, my guests really seemed to enjoy it! Affordable, too, as you rent the space from the city for a set number of hours. We had a photo booth using part of the space and the pictures turned out AWESOME. Just be careful to get what you want in writing (table/chair rentals, times you can be there and times you can't, etc), as dealing with the event coordinator can be difficult. We had a couple of different issues where she said one thing, then changed her mind, then changed it back later. Stressful when you're planning a wedding & getting married. But all-in-all I was happy with the location and glad to expose a bit of Modesto's history to my friends & family!

if you are ever in Modesto, you HAVE to visit this museum. this place used to be the library but by time they turned it into a cute little museum with cute little old ladies that will teach you a thing or two about Modesto. its nice knowing that you can go to a city and learn about their history. best part? its free admission! but i suggest you go to the little shop they have inside, it has a lot of unique things

The next stop on my date included the McHenry Museum which focuses more on the rich history of Modesto and the Stanislaus County as a whole. Admission is free and is housed in the former Modesto Library building which was directly donated by the McHenry Family back in the early 1900s.The building itself both inside and out boasts great architectural treats with it's commanding entrance to it's now detailed rotunda. Yes it's not the State Capital building but it had it's own charm. As soon as we walked in we were greeted by a nice female docent who immediately spoke to the history of the building and one of the McHenrys' whom spent a good amount of money to build the library in the detail we enjoy now. To the right of the rotunda entrance is an ever changing exhibit that could be paintings one month to period clothing the next. To the left it opened up to what seemed like a lounge area complete with a fireplace (there were several in the whole building to be exact but this one seemed the most impressive).We made our way through the ground level of the museum which touched on the impressive farming, social and political history which formed what we know Stan County to be today. Of course there were many trinkets and machines telling a great story over a plethora of time periods ranging from 1849 to roughly the 1930s. I was very impressed with the attention to detail that was put into every display. After we were done looking at what the ground level had to offer we still had the basement to discover which was equally interesting. Downstairs it focused more on the 1940s to roughly the 80s. I particularly joyed in the 50s diner replica which was a not so secret nod to Modesto's American Graffiti link and George Lucas. A lot of period clothing adorned the walls which included the Police Dept, Fire Dept and war effort. I thought it was really neat seeing a picture of Downtown Modesto before Highway 99 cut the Downtown area off from the "Westside".I thoroughly enjoyed this museum and I can't wait to bring the next visitor brave enough to come see me here. Any takers?