Junípero Serra Museum

A new kind of artisanal museum experience, evocative and immersive, respectfully revealing the layers of history at a storied site.

This landmark site has undergone many transformations over the centuries. Originally Native Kumeyaay territory, the site became the Colonial birthplace of California and San Diego in 1769 upon the Presidio’s completion. In 1929 the San Diego Historical Society was established, and it is the San Diego History Center’s Junípero Serra Museum.

Concurrent with the Presidio’s 250th anniversary, the Serra Museum interpretation has been transformed to be more inclusive. The new installations include numerous immersive and interactive digital presentations as well as traditional artifact and graphic displays. In the center of the Main Gallery, a circular forum encourages face-to-face dialogue inspired by the atmospheric digital installations. The circular forum has a hand-woven rug that depicts the San Diego River watershed and three hand-crafted benches with Hello prompts in Kumeyaay, Spanish, and English. Other displays present historic photographs, quotes and artifacts in adjacent Welcome Center, Tower, and Overlook spaces.