The San Lorenzo Valley Museum: What to See and How to Support It

The short version

• Admission to both galleries is free; donations are welcome but nobody's standing at the door with a cash box.
• Boulder Creek gallery (Grace Episcopal, 12547 Highway 9): Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. Felton gallery (Faye G. Belardi Memorial, 6299 Gushee Street): Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.
• 2026 is the historical society's 50th anniversary, so the calendar is fuller than usual: a retrospective exhibit, monthly heritage demonstrations, and a dinner on August 8.
• The archives are open by appointment for house, family, and valley research: call (831) 338-8382 or email archives@slvmuseum.org.
• Hours and programs change with the season and staffing, so confirm at slvmuseum.org before a special trip.

The first thing worth knowing about the San Lorenzo Valley Museum is that it's free, and it keeps longer hours than most people expect. The main Grace Episcopal Gallery at 12547 Highway 9 in Boulder Creek is open Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. A second gallery, the Faye G. Belardi Memorial Gallery at 6299 Gushee Street in Felton, is open Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, the same afternoon hours. Donations are appreciated, but nobody's standing at the door with a cash box.

If you've been meaning to go, 2026 is the year. The historical society behind the museum is turning 50, and the whole calendar is built around that anniversary: a retrospective exhibit, monthly heritage demonstrations, and a big dinner in August. Hours and programs do change, so confirm at slvmuseum.org before a special trip.

Two galleries, both former churches

The museum's odd advantage is its buildings. Both galleries are 19th- and early-20th-century churches, and both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which makes the containers exhibits in their own right.

The Boulder Creek building is the original Grace Episcopal Church, a small Gothic Revival church built in 1906 and listed on the National Register in 2006 for its architecture: the steep gable roofs, pointed arches, and tracery you can still read from Highway 9. The historical society notes the church originally stood in what was the separate town of Lorenzo, a settlement south of Boulder Creek proper that faded away while its church survived. If you've read our short history of Boulder Creek, this is the building that closes that story.

The Felton gallery has a longer resume. It began as the Felton Presbyterian Church, dedicated in 1893, then spent decades as Felton's public library under the name Faye G. Belardi Memorial Library before the library moved to a new building that opened in early 2020. It was listed on the National Register back in 1978. The historical society opened it as its second gallery in 2020, and it carries the Belardi name forward as the Faye G. Belardi Memorial Gallery.

Fifty years of the historical society

The museum didn't start with either building. The society was founded in Boulder Creek in March 1976 by three locals, Ralph Wilcox, Walt Bachrach, and John Holm, as the Boulder Creek Historical Society. For about twenty years its museum lived in a second-floor office just outside downtown Boulder Creek, the kind of place you'd only find if you knew to look for it.

That changed in December 1999, when the society opened the museum in the renovated Grace Episcopal Church building. In 2012 the organization renamed itself the San Lorenzo Valley Historical Society to match the territory it actually covers, from Boulder Creek down through Brookdale, Ben Lomond, and Felton. The Felton gallery followed in 2020, and the two-gallery setup lets the museum hold a long-term exhibit in one building while rotating shows through the other.

What's on in 2026

The anniversary year has a full calendar. Here's what the museum has posted.

• Retrospect runs at the Grace gallery in Boulder Creek through late 2026 and looks back at the historical society's own first 50 years. It's the anniversary show, and a good first visit if you've never been.
• The Road I Call Home runs through September 20, 2026, bringing photographer Randy Bacon's portrait work documenting 32 people experiencing homelessness. It's a heavier show than the museum's usual fare, and worth your time.
• Americana is an open call for submissions. The museum is asking local artists for 2D work on American cultural themes, with submissions accepted August 1 through 31, 2026. If you make art in the valley, this is your invitation.
• Heritage Demonstrations run monthly from April through August on the third Saturday, hands-on with the skills that built the valley.
• 50th Anniversary Dinner & Auction is the centerpiece, on Saturday, August 8, 2026, at Scopazzi's in Boulder Creek, one of the town's longest-running restaurants and a fitting room for it. Tickets and details are on the museum site.

Making a night of it? Our guide to eating in Boulder Creek covers Scopazzi's and everyone else.

The archives are the deep end

The galleries are what most visitors see, but the archives are what make the museum matter to anyone researching a house, a family, or a piece of valley history. The collection at the Boulder Creek building includes local newspapers from the 1890s to the present, business and organizational records, maps, forestry archives, family records, and roughly 5,000 photographs in the Fredda C. Carr collection, shot around the valley between 1950 and 1970.

Access is by appointment: call (831) 338-8382 or email archives@slvmuseum.org. There's also an online research request form if you'd rather the staff dig for you. The policies run friendly by archive standards. Non-flash photography of materials is allowed, and the museum will provide scans for non-commercial use on request.

The society also keeps a reference library of about 900 local and regional history books at the Felton gallery, browsable during regular hours or by appointment through library@slvmuseum.org, with the full catalog searchable online through LibraryThing.

How to support it

Free admission is a gift, and it only works if enough people give back. Four ways to do that, in rough order of commitment.

• Visit and drop something in the donation box. The lowest bar, and it counts.
• Become a member. Membership and donations run through Zeffy links on the museum's site. Members get a 15 percent discount in the museum store and the printed newsletter. The site has current levels and pricing.
• Volunteer as a docent. Docents welcome visitors at both galleries, handle the bookstore, and guide people through the exhibits. The museum asks for a one-year commitment at a minimum of three hours a month, provides training, and gives volunteers a one-year individual membership plus a volunteers-only recognition event. For a three-hour monthly shift, that's a fair trade.
• Adopt a native plant bed. The Grace gallery grounds double as Flora, a living exhibition of native plants and their historic uses, and the museum runs an Adopt-a-Native-Plant-Bed program for people who'd rather contribute with a trowel than a checkbook.

If you can't make it in person

The museum's Museum From Home page reaches further than most small museums manage. There are virtual exhibits on women's suffrage in Santa Cruz County, valley ingenuity ("Gadgets & Gizmos"), the San Lorenzo Valley's Chinese community, and grizzly bear encounters, plus a feature on Google Arts & Culture, a photograph and postcard collection on Flickr, and a blog. It's a good rainy-week rabbit hole, and a good preview before you visit.

One housekeeping note: the museum's site is slvmuseum.org. The .com version of the address redirects there, so either gets you to the right place, but the .org is the one to save.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the San Lorenzo Valley Museum cost?

Nothing. Admission to both galleries is free, and donations are appreciated. Memberships and donations fund the operation, so if you visit regularly, joining is the fair-play move.

When is the museum open?

The Grace Episcopal Gallery in Boulder Creek is open Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m., and the Faye G. Belardi Memorial Gallery in Felton is open Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. The office keeps Wednesday through Saturday hours. Check slvmuseum.org before you go, since hours change with seasons and staffing.

Can the museum help me research my house or family?

Yes, that's what the archives are for. Access is by appointment at (831) 338-8382 or archives@slvmuseum.org, and there's an online research request form. Holdings include newspapers back to the 1890s, maps, business records, family records, and thousands of photographs.

Which gallery should I visit first?

If you're in Boulder Creek, start with the Grace Episcopal Gallery, both for the 1906 building and for the Retrospect anniversary exhibit running through late 2026. The Felton gallery is the natural second stop, and it holds the reference library.

How do I volunteer?

Contact the museum at (831) 338-8382 or info@slvmuseum.org. Docents commit to at least a year at three hours a month, training included, and get a free membership out of it.

The anniversary calendar runs all year, so there's rarely a bad month to go. Confirm the day's hours at slvmuseum.org before a special trip, then see what else is happening around the valley on our community events calendar.