Stagecoach Inn Museum
Newbury Park
September 21, 2014
We went west, into Ventura County, to see the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park. As with some of our other recent outings, we found out about it through the Passport 2 History program and booklet. There are several different buildings on the grounds; the old inn is the main building. The original building was built in 1876, the nation’s centennial, and named the Grand Union Hotel. The building lasted nearly a century. The original porches were removed when it became a military academy in the 1930’s, and it was relocated to the current site in order to widen the Ventura Freeway. Unfortunately, the original building burned to the ground in 1970. It had been extensively documented and photographed, and there was a great outpouring of community support which enabled it to be rebuilt essentially as it was before. It reopened in 1976. It has been furnished with excellent period furniture and artifacts.
The three of us all toured the ground floor of that main building together with a docent who explained a number of the items to us. He showed us historic photos and explained the history of the area and its prominent families. In the kitchen, he turned us over to two junior docents, elementary school age girls who explained to us what the various kitchen items were and how they were used, including two butter churns, an ice chest, flat irons, and a telephone which had been on a party line. Margaret remembered that the family’s summer cottage on Pleasant Pond in Maine had a party line. She told us later over coffee that her family’s ring had been two long rings and one short. She said when you used the party line you could hear the sound of neighbors hanging up.
Since Margaret could not go up to the second floor of the main building, she and Meredith stayed downstairs and took a close look at six different antique dresses from the 1880s and 1890s that are displayed on dress forms down there. They were quite nice and had some intricate embroidery and other details. Bob toured the upstairs of the main building with a college student docent. The upstairs includes both a family wing and a guest wing. There is a bed up there with a turned wood bedstead. It is the only piece in the museum that was part of the collection before the 1970 fire; it had been removed for restoration. It is called the “Lincoln Bed” because the tradition is that it had belonged to Abraham Lincoln’s son or grandson.
We then went over to the carriage house where a different docent explained the two stagecoaches on display. One is an antique stagecoach which was actually used, although where it was used and by whom is not known. Next to it is a replica stagecoach which was built for and used in filming movies. It is designed to look like the classic red Wells Fargo stagecoaches. Outside the carriage house is a pony cart made to look like a miniature stagecoach.
We also looked into the blacksmith shop and walked down to the Newbury House. The latter building is a replica of the home in which the Newbury family lived, in what is now Thousand Oaks, near the current Performing Arts Center. The docent at that building explained that the Newburys had written many letters to relatives back East describing their home, and they documented it so well that the museum staff are confident the replica is very close to the original.
Finally, we walked over to the Timber School building, also a replica. The surrounding area used to be called Timberville, before it was renamed Newbury Park. The school building is a classic one room schoolhouse furnished with old wooden desks. It has been built to match the original schoolhouse, as depicted in a late 19th century photograph that hangs in the main building of the museum.
We enjoyed our visit. There is ample free parking, and admission was modest: $5 per adult, $4 dollars for seniors. Wheelchair access is limited. As noted, we did not take Margaret up to the second floor of the main building. There is no ramp access to get inside the Newbury House, the path down to the adobe is too steep for a wheelchair, and the threshold of the school building was a bit high. We were able to see into the schoolhouse and Newbury House, however, and there was plenty to see in the main building, carriage house, and blacksmith shed.
We ate before we went to the museum. We stopped at a small local Mexican restaurant called El Sancho Loco Taqueria in Newbury Park. The prices were quite reasonable, and the ingredients were fresh and of good quality. The food was plain. Margaret enjoyed her quesadilla, and Bob and Meredith enjoyed the daily special, two beef tostadas. It is a casual place, with ordering at the counter and food brought to the table. They were quite generous with the quantity of tortilla chips served on the side! The server was pleasant and helpful.
