Lake County Museum

Located in the county seat of Lakeport, the Lake County Museum is a modest but well-curated regional history museum with particular strengths in Pomo cultural material and the area's volcanic geology. The Pomo basket collection is the standout: large, finely worked pieces that explain why collectors have sought Lake County examples since the late 19th century.

The geology section covers the Clear Lake Volcanic Field, which includes the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine — once one of California's most productive mercury mines and now a Superfund cleanup site. It is a compact museum, manageable in under an hour, and a useful complement to a visit to Anderson Marsh.

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The museum holds one of the best collections of Pomo basketwork in California — the Pomo are widely regarded as among the finest basket weavers in North America, and Lake County was a center of this tradition. The technical complexity of the coiled and twined pieces here, some incorporating beads and feathers, represents a skill level that modern practitioners describe as almost impossible to replicate.

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