About the museum

The Gold Nugget Museum was incorporated as Gold Nugget Days Inc. in 1973. The mission is to preserve and protect the Ridge heritage through our collection and with community education programs.

The Museum depends upon volunteers to make this happen. These volunteers include the fifteen member board of directors, our executive director, operations director and curator, the docents that greet you and make you feel welcome, as well as the hundreds of volunteers that help with each of the Museum events.

Our goal is to make the Gold Nugget Museum a destination for tourists as well as for our Ridge community. We want families to come to the museum, not only to learn about the history of the Ridge, but also to become part of that history. There are many hands-on events, such as the Days of Living History, which the entire family can participate in. The Museum has a school program which is part of the curriculum for California history, whereby the children spend an entire day on the Museum grounds, living in the 1850s. They become part of the history that they have studied and have a greater understanding of what our ancestors went through to survive.

Our collection and exhibits include some wonderful treasures of the past. The year 2006 will be an exciting one for us as we work with the Town of Paradise to rehabilitate the 1904 train depot and develop it as a local train and logging museum.

The Museum has a wonderful collection of Maidu Indian artifacts, including a replica of a Maidu woman grinding acorns. On the grounds, you will see a blacksmith shop, gold sluices and a miner's cabin, a schoolhouse and a covered bridge that spans the width of a rushing creek. These exhibits come alive during special events such as Gold Nugget Days, Days of Living History, Living History School Program and other special events during the year.

It is our hope that you will come see for yourself, what a wonderful place the Gold Nugget Museum is.