The museum and historic Jail at 505 Johnston St. are open weekends from 10:30am-4:30pm. We are also open during Make it Main Thursday evenings, and some days mid-week when docents are available.
Visit the new native plant garden! The garden flourishes between the old jail and the Coastside History Museum. The plants showcased in the native plant garden help restore the Coastside’s natural habitat balance, protecting pollinators and nurturing wildlife—and providing beauty!
The museum is ADA accessible, with new exhibits about the history of the San Mateo Coastside. The exhibits describe the Ohlone period, farming, surfing, railroads, and the many cultures of the area. Local artifacts are on display as well. The 1919 Jail remains open for viewing, with occasional special exhibits.
We continue to develop new exhibits for our museum, and enhance existing exhibits.
In the next year (2026) we also expect to do work on the jail building at the museum to replace the roof, and redo the electrical system in the historic jail building. We have not completed estimates for this work, but we expect it to exceed $100,000. We encourage donations to support this work.
Photos of the museum construction over a two year period are themselves a bit of history, and show some of the historic structure. Research indicates that the structure was rebuilt in the 1920s as the sheriff’s garage, likely including some posts and beams from the Johnston livery stable. We have retained as much of the structural materials in our remodeling as was possible, and have reused the old siding on the front of the museum, displaying the old doors as well.
Now that the new museum is completed, we plan to repair and restore the jail so that both cells will appear as they did when in use. The jail is open the same hours as the museum with some exhibits, and one cell available for pictures.
The Coastside History Museum and historic jail are located at 505 Johnston St, one block from Main Street. The museum is currently open weekends from 11:30m-3:30pm.  We are also open during Make it Main Thursday evenings, and some days mid week when docents are available.
We want you as a docent!
If you are interested in local history, we would love to have you join us as a docent in our museum.  The training is fun and new classes are available regularly. Contact us via email at volunteer4history@gmail.com
Ground Breaking Ceremony July 2021.
Half Moon Bay History Association’s ~ Our New Coastside Museum is now Framed
Half Moon Bay History Association Reaches Major Milestone: New Museum Construction Begins
PRESS RELEASE.
April 19, Half Moon Bay, California. The Half Moon Bay History Association (HMBHA) has received all permits to begin construction of a state-of-the-art museum behind the old town jail at 503 Johnston Street.
The land, leased from the City of Half Moon Bay, includes a large building with century-old origins. An entirely new building will be built inside the old structure, while keeping the original historic exterior. Construction will begin immediately, and is expected to last twelve months. The new museum will meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, and will include solar panels and LED lighting.
HMBHA has secured an agreement with Weldon Exhibits, the Bay Area’s nationally renowned designers and fabricators of museum exhibits. Weldon will work closely with HMBHA to create static and interactive experiences about all things historical on the Half Moon Bay Coastside. Weldon will construct exhibits offsite while the new museum is being built.
News and updates will be posted on the History Association’s website: halfmoonbayhistory.org.
