The Modoc County Historical Museum, at 600 South Main Street, covers the layered history of this remote corner of California: the Modoc people who occupied the area for thousands of years, the ranching culture that followed American settlement, and the events of the Modoc War of 1872–73 — one of the last significant armed conflicts between the US government and Native Americans in California.
The collection is well-organized and better than you might expect from a small county museum. The Modoc War exhibits are the strongest, with artifacts, maps, and documents explaining how the conflict played out in the volcanic lava fields of what is now Lava Beds National Monument, 90 miles to the southwest. There is also material on the local logging and ranching economies, and a collection of Modoc and Achumawi basketry. Next to the museum stands a preserved early 20th-century jailhouse that can be visited. Open Tuesday through Saturday; admission is inexpensive.