Los Altos History Museum

The Los Altos History Museum is one of the easiest outings near Palo Alto to recommend. It is free, it is compact enough for an hour and it sits in a working apricot orchard beside a farmhouse that looks much as it did 90 years ago. Exhibits change several times a year, so even locals find a reason to come back.

Our Los Altos town guide introduces the museum briefly. This page covers what is on now and next, the J. Gilbert Smith House, the outdoor farm exhibit and the practical details of a visit. All hours and exhibit dates come from the museum's own website, checked at the end of October 2026.

Hours, admission and closures

• Address: 51 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, on the Civic Center campus between the library and the community center.
• Hours: Thursday to Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
• Admission: free for the whole museum complex.
• Closed: New Year's Day, Easter, Juneteenth, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
• Phone: 650.948.9427.

The short opening window is the main thing to plan around. The museum is closed Monday to Wednesday. On open days the doors close at 4 p.m. On a weekend, pair the museum with lunch in downtown Los Altos, which is a few minutes' walk east across San Antonio Road.

The museum building and its orchard

According to the museum, the building opened in spring 2001. It has three levels and about 8,200 square feet. It was paid for entirely by private donations and ownership passed to the City of Los Altos in 2002.

The setting is as much a part of the visit as the galleries. The museum stands in what it calls one of the few remaining apricot orchards of the Santa Clara Valley, the region once nicknamed the Valley of Heart's Delight. The orchard dates to J. Gilbert Smith's farm. When the city bought the land for its Civic Center in 1954, it kept many of the trees. They bloom white in late winter and fruit in early summer.

Exhibits now and next

The museum runs one changing exhibition in its Main Gallery alongside long-term displays. Here is what its exhibit pages listed in late October 2026.

Making Connections is the permanent core of the museum. It uses touchscreens, augmented reality and artifacts to tell the area's story. It is the best place to understand how orchards became suburbs and then the heart of the tech economy. For the wider regional story, our Silicon Valley history picks up the thread.

Note the gap between exhibitions. The Spirit of '76 closes November 8 and The Road I Call Home opens November 19, so the Main Gallery may be closed or changing over in between. The permanent galleries and the Smith House should still be open on regular days.

The J. Gilbert Smith House

Next to the museum stands the house that explains the whole site. The museum gives its history this way:

1. J. Gilbert Smith, an Oregon native, built the Craftsman-style farmhouse between 1901 and 1905. It sat on more than 14 acres of prize-winning apricot orchards.
2. In 1954 the City of Los Altos bought the property, including the house and 10.44 acres of orchard, as the site for its Civic Center.
3. The Smiths kept a lifetime right to live in the house and one surrounding acre. The family lived there until 1973.
4. After Mrs. Smith died in 1973, the house and acre returned to the city. The city's walking tour brochure says it has been a museum since 1977.
5. In 1987 it became a local historical landmark and a California Point of Historical Interest.

Inside, the rooms are furnished with period pieces to recall the 1930s. A small bedroom serves as a gallery. Past displays there have included paintings by Annie Knapp Fitz, antique game boards, holiday folk art and Smith's own photographs of early Los Altos. The house and gallery need a docent guide, so ask at the museum desk when you arrive. If you cannot visit in person, the museum offers two 3D virtual tours online.

The outdoor farm exhibit and gardens

Behind the buildings, an outdoor exhibit called Transforming the Land shows how the orchards worked. Look for:

• A sulfur drying shed and wooden trays for drying apricots in the sun
• A rebuilt tractor like the one Smith used in his orchard
• A refurbished 1915 tank house and a three-hole outhouse
• The first Wizard Walnut Huller, built by the Los Altos Formway Machine Shop, once on Almond Avenue
• A Blenheim apricot tree planted in spring 2020, a gift from The Garden Club of Los Altos
• A pollinator garden planted by museum interns

The Los Altos Heritage Orchard lies beside the library's back door. Children tend to like this part best, since they can see real equipment up close. Our museums for kids guide lists more hands-on places nearby.

Group tours and research

Groups of ten or more can request a guided tour by calling 650.948.9427, extension 16. The museum charges $5 a person for tours outside open hours, or for tours during open hours that need a docent. Schools and nonprofits pay $50 a group. The museum also posts curator-led tours on its events page.

The museum keeps an archive and photo collection with a research and access service. Other local groups use it too. Hidden Villa's volunteer historian, for example, has worked through the museum's photographs of the Duveneck family. See our Hidden Villa guide for that story.

Planning a half day

The Civic Center campus groups several stops together. A relaxed plan for a Saturday or Sunday:

1. Arrive at noon when the doors open and start with Making Connections.
2. Join a docent in the Smith House, then walk the orchard and the farm exhibit.
3. Cross San Antonio Road for a late lunch downtown.
4. In season, catch an evening show at the Bus Barn Theater, a short walk away on Hillview Avenue.

Palo Alto's own history museum postponed its opening in January 2026 after water leaks and has no new date. Until it opens, the Los Altos museum is the closest local history museum with regular hours. For Palo Alto's story, start with our history of Palo Alto. Los Altos itself has very few hotel rooms, so if you are visiting from farther away you can compare hotels near Los Altos in Palo Alto and Mountain View.

Frequently asked questions