Museum of American Heritage

Museum of American Heritage FREE museum showcasing the technological transformation of the U.S. from the Civil War era through the computer era. Open Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, 11am to 4pm

Located in the historic Williams House near downtown Palo Alto. The Museum of American Heritage (MOAH) is the Bay Area’s only museum exclusively dedicated to the history of technological innovation in the pre-transistor age. MOAH is an interactive learning center whose mission is to create innovators of the future through inventions of the past. MOAH is a family friendly learning environment where

visitors of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to explore scientific and technological history through our unique exhibits, classes, and special events. Originally opened in 1992, MOAH relocated to the historic William’s House in downtown Palo Alto in 1998. MOAH generated temporary and permanent exhibitions are mounted in the century-old home and restored garden. The Livermore Learning Center at MOAH is the venue for classes, lectures, and special events for learners of all ages.

06/01/2026

Fretboard wizardry! 🎸✨ Yuri Liberzon’s dexterity and precision are insane.



Our new exhibit asks:- How have moments of crisis shaped American identity?- How did transformative technologies affect ...
05/11/2026

Our new exhibit asks:
- How have moments of crisis shaped American identity?
- How did transformative technologies affect America in its most trying times?
- What does it mean to be “American”?

The Times That Changed Us: Technology & American Identity During Crises of the 19th & 20th Centuries

On display now!

MOAH’s School of Rock performers were phenomenal! 🎸🤘Thank you to the KLA Jammers and for an evening of amazing rock and...
04/21/2026

MOAH’s School of Rock performers were phenomenal! 🎸🤘

Thank you to the KLA Jammers and for an evening of amazing rock and pop music!

Anyone recognize these tools? Hot combs!🔥🪮A hot comb is more than just a hair tool - it simultaneously represents racial...
03/18/2026

Anyone recognize these tools?
Hot combs!🔥🪮

A hot comb is more than just a hair tool - it simultaneously represents racialized beauty standards and Black women’s navigation strategies in a society built on racial hierarchy.

From the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, hot combs became one of the most widely used hair tools in America. Heated on a stove top, later plugged into a wall, they were designed to straighten curly or wavy hair from root to tip.

Black women were among the earliest and most devoted users of the hot comb, not because straight hair was inherently desirable, but because it often signaled credibility, decency, and belonging in America’s white-dominant culture.

When the mainstream beauty industry ignored Black women entirely, they took radical action and built their own. Entrepreneurs like Annie Turnbo Malone and Madam C. J. Walker turned that gap into commercial and educational empires centered entirely on hair care and cosmetics for Black women.

03/03/2026

Our friends from the Brick Team are hosting a new LEGO® fan convention that is “Out of This World,” with creations inspired by space and science fiction: Brick Blast!

What: LEGO® displays, build zones, LEGO® robotics, LEGO® artists, brick vendors, and more!

Where: Santa Clara Convention Center

When: Saturday, August 22, 9am-4:30pm

Tickets: use code BLASTOFF & 15% off code MOAH15 at brickblastlive.com

02/09/2026

I was alone in a 119-year-old house when I came across these.😬I think the one with moving eyes might be cursed.

12/30/2025

Nearly Judgement Day for 2025!

We judge MOAH’s 2025 to be, in a word, amazing.

We had a great year connecting with Bay Area communities and making memories together!

Your contributions help make all this possible.🙏

Let’s continue to share the fun in 2026!

12/22/2025

Games and trains galore at MOAH’s winter exhibit!

Looking for free activities to do on the weekends during the holidays? Come check out our pinball machine, model trains, and more!

Friday, Saturday, Sunday
11am-4pm
FREE admission

12/15/2025

Purple electricity? Listen to us shock ourselves with a violet ray machine! You can hear the electricity surge and crackle!

This is a violet ray machine patented in 1919 under the product name Renulife.

Popular in the first half of the 20th century, violet ray machines used high-voltage, high-frequency, low-current electricity for supposed electrotherapy.

The machines generated a violet glow from a gas-filled glass electrode and a small amount of ozone.

Manufacturers claimed that these machines could cure all manner of ailments, including hysteria, arthritis, gout, hemorrhoids, brain fog, gray hair, toothache, and wrinkles.

11/06/2025

Night at the Museum shenanigans on Halloween!

Over 560 people from the community came together for a Halloween party at the museum.

We had so much fun with our mad scientist demos, flashlight ghost hunt, trick-or-treating, tarot readings, and more.

Address

351 Homer Avenue
Palo Alto, CA
94301

Opening Hours

Friday 11am - 4pm
Saturday 11am - 4pm
Sunday 11am - 4pm

Telephone

(650) 321-1004

Website

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