The Society of California Pioneers was founded in 1850, the year California became a state, by people who had arrived before that year. It still exists to collect and preserve the state's early history, and its home base is now 300 Fourth Street in San Francisco's Yerba Buena neighborhood.
A long list of addresses
According to Wikipedia, the society's first two Pioneer Halls, on land donated by member James Lick, were both destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire. It later spent decades at 456 McAllister St. in Civic Center until 1994, when it had to move for construction of the Civic Center Courthouse. It settled at 300 Fourth Street at Folsom in 1996.
In 2014 it moved to a Montgomery Street Barracks building on the Presidio's Main Post and opened a museum there. Wikipedia says the museum closed in 2024 after the rent quadrupled, and the society returned to 300 Fourth Street.
What's there now
The society says its new home includes the Alice Phelan Sullivan Library, where it welcomes researchers, and a programming room for lectures and other events tied to the collection.
The archives cover the Gold Rush, the 1906 earthquake and fire and other defining events. Wikipedia lists highlights including diaries such as John Sutter's, a letter by Henry William Bigler announcing the discovery of gold, photographs by Carleton Watkins and Eadweard Muybridge, and paintings by Thomas Hill, William Coulter and Maynard Dixon.
Who can join
Membership is open to direct descendants of anyone who was in California before 1850. The society also offers programs that anyone can attend or support.