San Leandro Museum Complex Comes Back to Life

Mayor Stephen Cassidy and the San Leandro City Council announced that the San Leandro History Museum, located at 320 West Estudillo Avenue, is reopening to the public beginning Thursday, Aug. 29.

The new museum hours will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, as well as the first Saturday of each month beginning in October. Third and fourth grade school tours will be held on Thursday and Friday mornings.

The San Leandro History Museum Complex consists of the San Leandro History Museum, Casa Peralta and Little Brown Church.

“San Leandro has a fascinating history spanning centuries from its settlement by the Ohlone through successive waves of immigrants, led by the Spanish and then the Portuguese, who founded and built our city. Today, we are now one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. and becoming a center of innovation in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are delighted to re-open the museum for school children to learn of San Leandro's and California's history, and invite the entire community to visit”, stated Mayor Stephen Cassidy.

The San Leandro History Museum opened to the public in 2004. It is one of the few city-owned museums in the state and is administered by the San Leandro Public Library. The museum shares the story of the San Leandro community from the time of the original Ohlone inhabitants to the present. School tours are also offered to local third and fourth grade classes. There are photographs, filmed stories of San Leandro residents, and even records related to the Nisei incarceration and Japanese-American veterans of the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service during the Second World War.

The Casa Peralta was the home of Herminia Peralta Dargie, the daughter of Ygnacio Peralta and granddaughter of Luis Maria Peralta, owner of the Rancho San Antonio. Casa Peralta was purchased in 1901, and rebuilt in the Spanish Revival Style. Barbara Matthews Brooks purchased the house in 1971, and donated it to the City of San Leandro. The Casa Peralta is open on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m.to 3 p.m. for volunteer led tours.

The Little Brown Church was the Sunday School annex for the First Presbyterian Church in 1867. By 1979, the Sunday School Annex was moved to the Casa Peralta estate. Little Brown Church has recently been renovated in the inside, including the stained-glass windows. It can be used for meetings, community programs, baptisms, weddings and private events. Please call (510) 910-3215 or email for more information.