Santa Monica History Museum

What Santa Monica History Museum does

The Santa Monica History Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1975 that operates as the official collector and preserver of Santa Monica's history, art, and culture. The museum is governed by a Board of Directors and operates from a permanent location on the campus of the Santa Monica Main Library, under a long-term lease with the City of Santa Monica. It maintains a collection of over 600,000 historical photographs, negatives, glass-plate negatives, and slides, which it describes as one of the most comprehensive local history collections in Southern California.

The museum generates revenue through a diversified non-profit model: general admission at $5.00 per visitor (with free access for members, children, students, seniors, military, veterans, and SNAP/EBT cardholders), annual memberships, tax-deductible individual donations, corporate sponsorships (including the Quinn Gallery), planned giving programs, photo reprint sales ($0-$175), book sales ($9.99-$75), and merchandise ($3-$27). Its core products include rotating exhibitions (Roots & Branches, HerStory, Food & Family), four permanent galleries, the Snap-powered Broadway Augmented Reality Walking Tour, the Quinn Gallery, a research library, a photo reprint service, and docent-led tours for school groups. With 7 employees and public hours limited to Thursday afternoons and Friday-Sunday, it operates at a small but institutionally stable scale.

Name

Santa Monica History Museum

Legal name

Santa Monica History Museum

Website

https://santamonicahistory.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Santa Monica History Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1975 that preserves and presents Santa Monica's history through exhibitions, a 600,000-photo archive, the Snap-powered Broadway AR Walking Tour, and educational programs serving local residents, schools, tourists, and researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local History Museum

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Historical Sites (71212)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG)

Keywords

• Local history museum
• Historical photograph archives
• Educational school tours
• Augmented reality tours
• Community cultural programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Monica

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Memberships: Annual membership program providing free admission, newsletter updates, and other member benefits. Members represent a recurring revenue stream supporting museum operations.
2. Admissions: General admission at $5.00 per visitor. Free admission on 1st Sunday of each month and for members, children under 17, students, seniors (65+), active duty military, veterans, and SNAP/EBT cardholders.
3. E-commerce Sales: Online shop selling historical photo reprints, books about Santa Monica history, and museum merchandise including note cards, journals, posters, tote bags, and toys.
4. Donations and Sponsorships: Tax-deductible donations from individuals, corporate sponsorships for exhibitions and the Quinn Gallery, and planned giving programs. The museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (Tax ID: 95-3019295).
5. Photo Reprint Sales: Sale of historical photograph reprints from the museum's collection of over 600,000 images. Prices range from $0.00 to $175.00 depending on size and format.
6. Tours and Educational Programs: Docent-led tours for school classrooms, youth groups, and elderhostel/road scholars. Virtual field trips and research services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Santa Monica History Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit museum that preserves and presents the history and culture of the Santa Monica Bay Area. It operates permanent and rotating exhibitions, maintains a collection of over 600,000 historical photographs, provides docent-led tours and educational programs, runs a research library, and offers an augmented reality walking tour of the historic Broadway neighborhood in partnership with Snap Inc. Revenue comes from admissions, memberships, donations, sponsorships, and a museum shop selling books, photo reprints, and merchandise.

Product overview

The Santa Monica History Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution that serves as the preeminent venue for exploring Santa Monica Bay history and culture. The museum operates a unified offering centered on exhibitions, collections, and educational programs. Core products include rotating Current Exhibitions (Roots & Branches, HerStory, Food and Family), four Permanent Exhibitions (Indigenous Roots, Celebrated Beach Town, Santa Monica's Creativity, A City Grows & Thrives), the Broadway Augmented Reality Walking Tour (an AR experience developed with SNAP), a Historical Photographs Collection (over 600,000 items), the Quinn Gallery (in partnership with the Quinn Research Center), a Research Library, Oral History Program, and Tours & Field Trips. The museum also operates a retail component offering Museum Shop products including photo prints, books (such as Early Santa Monica and Douglas: The Santa Monica Years), and merchandise (china, cards, notebooks, posters, tote bags).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Current Exhibitions Rotating exhibitions featuring diverse historical topics, including Roots & Branches (exploring trees and urban development), HerStory (celebrating groundbreaking women of Santa Monica), and Food & Family (African American and intercultural food traditions). For general public visitors, school groups, and tourists.
• Permanent Exhibitions Four permanent gallery exhibitions covering Indigenous Roots of the Region (Tongva homelands through the city's founding), Celebrated Beach Town (beach destination history), Santa Monica's Creativity (artistic community), and A City Grows & Thrives (resort destination and innovation). For general public visitors and educational groups.
• Broadway Augmented Reality Walking Tour Immersive AR walking tour of the historic Broadway neighborhood, developed in partnership with Snap Inc. The experience uses mobile device cameras and QR codes to overlay archival images onto physical locations via Snap's City-Scale AR technology. For individual visitors, tourists, and self-guided explorers.
• Historical Photographs Collection Archival collection of more than 600,000 prints, negatives, glass-plate negatives, and slides documenting Santa Monica's history. One of the most comprehensive and unique local history collections in Southern California. For researchers, historians, genealogists, authors, and members of the public.
• Photo Reprints Historical photograph reprints available for personal use from the museum's 600,000+ image collection, available in sizes from 5x7 to 20x24 with options for semi-matte or glossy paper and bordered or borderless finishing. Prices range from $0.00 to $175.00 depending on size and format. For individual customers, researchers, and gift purchasers.
• Quinn Gallery Dedicated gallery space established in partnership with the Quinn Research Center to preserve and present the history of African American life in Santa Monica, supporting the museum's diversity, equity, and inclusion mission. For visitors, researchers, and community members.
• Research Library Archival research services and library access providing on-site access to historical records, photographs, and reference materials about Santa Monica history. For researchers, historians, genealogists, and members of the public.
• Tours and Field Trips Docent-led museum tours and field trips for school classrooms, youth groups, and Elderhostel/Road Scholars, with tailored educational experiences covering museum exhibitions and Santa Monica history. Virtual field trips are also available. For schools, youth groups, and adult learning programs.
• Oral History Program Ongoing program to collect and preserve oral histories documenting community stories and personal accounts of Santa Monica's history. For researchers, historians, and community members.
• Museum Shop - Books Online and on-site bookstore featuring publications about Santa Monica history, local authors, and regional topics. Titles include Early Santa Monica ($19.99), Douglas: The Santa Monica Years ($18.00), First Around the World ($27.99), and other titles ranging from $9.99 to $75.00. For visitors, researchers, and gift purchasers.
• Museum Shop - Merchandise Gift shop merchandise including Winfield China Blue Pacific collection, Route 66 pins, note cards ($3.00-$4.95), notebooks, posters ($21.95), tote bags ($15.00), journals ($19.95), and a lifeguard station toy ($27.00), with prices ranging from $3.00 to $27.00. For visitors, tourists, and gift purchasers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 600,000 historical photographs in collection

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Quinn Research CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership culminated in establishment of Quinn Gallery in 2023, dedicated to preserving the history of African American life in Santa Monica. Co-curated Broadway to Freeway exhibition. Supports museum's diversity, equity, and inclusion commitment.
• California HumanitiesminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Exhibition sponsor for Broadway to Freeway: Life and Times of a Vibrant Community. Provides funding support for exhibition programming.
• Inspection Support NetworkminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Exhibition sponsor for Broadway to Freeway exhibition.
• California Arts CouncilminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Exhibition sponsor providing grant funding for Broadway to Freeway exhibition.
• SNAP (Snap Inc.)coreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership to develop augmented reality walking tour of the historic Broadway neighborhood. Utilizing SNAP's AR platform and the museum's archival images to bring the neighborhood to life through City-Scale technology.
• Santa Monica Public LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMuseum is located on the campus of the Santa Monica Main Library, sharing facilities and benefiting from library visitors.
• City of Santa MonicacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term lease arrangement for museum space at the Main Library campus. City provided space to support museum's mission.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Skirball Cultural Center: A Los Angeles cultural institution with permanent and rotating historical exhibitions, educational programming, and a Jewish heritage focus. Comparable as a regional museum operator with exhibitions and school programs.
• Japanese American National Museum: A Los Angeles-based museum focused on Japanese American history and culture, operating exhibitions, educational programs, and a research library—paralleling the Santa Monica museum's exhibitions plus archive model.
• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County: A major LA natural and cultural history institution with research libraries, exhibitions, and educational programs. Comparable as a Los Angeles-area museum operator with substantial archives and school programming.
• California African American Museum: A state-level LA museum focused on African American history, art, and culture with rotating exhibitions and educational programs. Parallels the Quinn Gallery's DEI mission and exhibition-based model.
• Autry Museum of the American West: A larger Los Angeles-area history museum with a broader Western-American scope, deeper collections, and substantially more resources. Overlaps on Western/local history exhibitions and educational programming.

Direct peers

• Holocaust Museum LA: A Los Angeles history museum combining permanent exhibitions, docent-led school tours, and community programming. Comparable as a small-to-mid history museum with strong educational programming.
• The Wende Museum: A smaller LA-area history museum combining exhibitions, archives, and community programming around Cold War-era history. Closely comparable in operating model and emphasis on under-told histories.
• Pasadena Museum of History: A similarly-sized local history museum in the Los Angeles region operating exhibitions, archives, and educational programs for a single city's history. Closely comparable in mission, operating model, and scale.
• Workman and Temple Homestead Museum: A small Southern California historic house museum preserving local pioneer history through exhibitions and educational tours. Closely comparable in scale and local-history operating model.
• Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site: A Southern California historic site operating exhibitions, educational tours, and public programming on local history. Comparable as a small SoCal history/heritage institution with similar visitor programming.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@santamonicahistory
• Facebookfacebook.com/santamonicahistorymuseum
• Instagraminstagram.com/santamonicahistorymuseum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/santa-monica-history-museum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Santa Monica History Museum