The Victor Valley Museum had its beginning in 1976 when display areas were established in the Victorville courthouse lobbies and hallways in celebration of the United States’ bicentennial. The displays were an immediate success, and individuals and community service groups quickly added to the displays with memorabilia and artifacts of their own that reflected the history of the High Desert.

In 1978 an educational nonprofit museum charter was created. The displays remained in the Victorville Courthouse for nearly 14 years until the grand opening of the museum’s own facility on Apple Valley Road.

Thanks to the energies and dedication of founding curator, Roy Tate and wife Marion, those years in the Courthouse brought the museum hundreds of members and the participation of leading families in the community. Roy has inspired some of our current exhibits, such as Great Grandma’s Kitchen with its cast iron stove, butter churn, wash boards, canning utensils etc, and Great Grandpa’s Garage, which is filled with handmade carpentry and mechanics tools.

As a museum of the living history and cultural arts of the High Desert of the Mojave, we invite everyone to take advantage of viewing these collections in the hope that it will encourage you to save your own treasures of family history from the present to share with generations to come.