The St. Helena Historical Society’s Heritage Center located at 1255 Oak Avenue displays carefully curated artifacts from St. Helena’s past.
Rebecca Yerger discusses some of the trailblazing pioneer women of St. Helena, beginning with the Wappos, who date back some 10,000 years. In addition to the Hispanic immigrants who shared their dynamic culture, there were African Americans and Chinese.
The mission of the St. Helena Historical Society is to collect, preserve, exhibit, interpret, and provide access to the history of the St. Helena area from the ancient settlements of the first Native Americans until the present day.
They achieve their mission by collecting photographs, documents, artifacts, books, oral histories, and other cultural objects, and then preserving and interpreting them to the public by means of exhibits, educational programs, lectures, public events, and publications.
Their collection area roughly follows the boundaries of the St. Helena School District, which stretches north to Bale Lane and south to the edge of Yountville. The area also includes Pope Valley, Deer Park, and Angwin. You can even explore St. Helena with the Historical Society’s digital historic walking tour!
The St. Helena Historical Society is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2002 by a small group of local citizens led by former library director Larry Hlavsa.
