R.C. Baker Memorial Museum - Coalinga, CA
Posted by: 
DougK
N 36° 08.260 W 120° 21.729
10S E 737355 N 4002441
The R.C. Baker Museum in Coalinga, California, helps preserve the history of the Pleasant Valley area.
Waymark Code: WMAJ29
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/19/2011
Views: 5
The R.C. Baker Museum in Coalinga, California, helps preserve the history of the Pleasant Valley area. The story starts with dinosaurs and peaks when oil was discovered at Coalinga. The museum's plans include an automotive history museum, featuring the recreated
Richfield Service Station.
The museum's home page claims:
This museum is a living collection that changes every time somebody brings
something in. We don’t throw things away out here. Everything you see has
been donated.
From the museum's history page:
The R.C. Baker Memorial Museum, was the original machine
shop and office of Baker Casing Shoe, later known as Baker Oil
Tools. Mr. Baker purchased the building from S.R. Bowen in 1917
for $10,000.00. When the Baker Headquarters were transferred
to Los Angeles in the 1930's the building was still used as a
machine shop. It was donated by Baker Oil Tools to the City of
Coalinga in 1959 to be used as a Museum, which opened in 1961.
In 1962, the first curator was E.E. Marker, until 1965, when Mr.
Marker resigned, then in 1965 Martha Bandy Horine became
Curator until her sudden death in March of 1972, then E.E.
Marker took over as Temp Curator until a new one could be
found, well the Museum didn't have to look far, because the
Secretary Betty Acebedo would become the next Curator in 1972
she would hold this position until 1995 when she retired (she
had been with the Museum since 1956), then in 1995 a new
Curator was appointed which was Helen Cowan, until her
retirement in 2006, that same year Stephanie McHaney would
become the 5th Curator the Museum has had, and the Museum
has been opened since 1961 that is 49 years.