The Bernhard Museum Complex is a

history museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

located in

Auburn, California Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a California Historical Landmark. Au ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It consists of one of the oldest buildings in

Placer County Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn. Placer County is included in the G ...

, Traveler's Rest, which was built in 1851 as a hotel.

History

The complex includes the historic building, Traveler's Rest, which was built in 1851. The hotel was popular with miners and those traveling along Auburn Folsom Road. In 1858 it became a home. In 1868 it was bought by German immigrant Benjamin Bernhard, who moved to America in 1846.A research paper written on the Bernhard family ancestry The property became a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

in 1874, with the addition of a winery building and an additional building for processing in 1881.

Museum

Today, the museum features the restored winery and processing building, and the home which is decorated in the Victorian period style. Costumed interpreters give tours of the site. There is also a carriage barn which was built by the

Native Sons of the Golden West The Native Sons of the Golden West is a fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation, documentation of historic structures and places in the state, the placement of historic ...

. It houses a collection of

wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

s, including a buggy and a mud wagon. In 2007, the Placer County Museums Living History Program built a summer kitchen.

Collection

The museum includes objects from everyday Victorian life, wagons, and objects related to the 19th century

winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

References

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External links

Official website
Museums in Placer County, California Historic house museums in California Auburn, California Museums established in 1851 1851 establishments in California