Antelope Valley Indian Museum

• Location: 15701 East Avenue M Lancaster, CA 93535

• Hours: Saturday – Sunday 11am – 4pm
• Cost: $3.00 Adults/ Children 12 and under are free

My wife brought the kids and I here for my 35th birthday. Since she knew I was interested in visiting the museum for quite a while, we got up early on Sunday February 3rd, had a quick breakfast and drove through heavy rainstorm for almost 2 hours. Luckily for us, it was a Sunday so we didn’t have to deal with much of the LA traffic. By the time we arrived, the sky’s had cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful day!

The Antelope Valley Indian Museum is a California State Park. The building’s unique architecture and creative engineering earned it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Native American Heritage Commission designated Piute Butte as a sacred landscape. Admission is $3 for adults (cash or credit cards only). Kids age 12 and under are free. The museum houses a large collection of artifacts from American Indian groups of three major cultural regions – the Southwest, the Great Basin and California dating as far back as 11,000 years, though little is known of these ancient cultures. Plan to spend 1.5 – 2 hours indoors viewing the artifacts, once done, go outside and enjoy an easy hike on the well marked trail behind the museum. Don’t forget to check out the exterior of the cabins located near the end of the hiking trail.

Howard Arden Edwards, a self-taught artist homesteaded 160 acres of land on Piute Butte and in 1928, Edwards, his wife and teenage son began building a home, which included a special area he called his Antelope Valley Indian Research Museum.

Grace Wilcox Oliver purchased the property from Edwards and in 1940 opened the home up as the Antelope Valley Indian Museum. Over the next three decades she added many of her own artifacts to the already existing large collection she acquired from Edwards.

In 1979, the State of California purchased the museum with Grace Oliver donating all of the artifacts. In the 1990’s, an electronic cataloging project began that is ongoing which has helped in identifying and assessing the museums collection.