Brea Museum and Historical Society

The Brea Museum & Historical Society is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and exhibition of the rich history of the city of Brea. That is our only mission; historic preservation. If you are a friend, please DO NOT post political statements of any type on this page!

Are you coming to our first ever virtual Annual Meeting??? As a non-profit we are required to conduct an annual meeting, open to the public. Each year we swing open the doors at the Museum and entertain our dear supporters. Unfortunately, this year we can't open the Museum so we'll have our meeting on Zoom. By now most of you are Zoom experts so if you have not already requested a link, be sure to do so right away. Our meeting is tomorrow, Wednesday 1/13/21 at 7:00 PM. You can email us at [email protected] to request a Zoom link. See you there!!

Do you remember ?

Do you remember when?

Do you remember when???

Do you remember?

For more than 50 years, the Brea Historical Society has worked tirelessly to collect, preserve, and share the rich and vibrant history of our city. From our humble beginnings of an oil town spanning a few blocks, the city has grown to be a world-class community spread over 11.5 square miles. Home to industry, entertainment, and a culturally diverse population, Brea’s history is filled with intrigue, innovation, and remarkable accomplishments. Of course, as the community has g...rown, so too has the task of preservation. Digitizing our collections and properly archiving our precious artifacts are costly but necessary to ensure the public has access to our rich history. This is where you come in. We know you have a vested interest in the community, so we believe you will have an interest in seeing its history preserved. By supporting the Brea Historical Society, you are doing exactly that. As a non-profit organization, we are committed to our mission to collect, preserve, and display the heritage and history of the City of Brea. We do this through educational programs, research studies, exhibitions, and workshops, so we can document and promote Brea’s unique contribution to an ever-changing world. We cannot do this without you. We ask that you consider supporting the Brea Historical Society through membership or a year-end donation. There are numerous membership levels to meet your budget and all donations will help us continue our preservation efforts. You can visit our website for more details. Remember, the Brea Historical Society is a registered 501C3. Tax receipts are available on request. On behalf of the Directors, Staff, and Members of the Brea Historical Society, we thank you for your consideration.

Do you remember when Brea was Randolph???

Wishing all our friends a Very Happy Thanksgiving. 100 years ago, President Wilson issued this proclamation. WWI and the flu pandemic were over and the American people were beginning to heal. May we too find peace and joy and healing as we head into this Holiday Season. November 12, 1920 By the President of the United States of America... A Proclamation The season again approaches when it behooves us to turn from the distractions and preoccupations of our daily life, that we may contemplate the mercies which have been vouchsafed to us, and render heartfelt and unfeigned thanks unto God for His manifold goodness. This is an old observance of the American people, deeply imbedded in our thought and habit. The burdens and the stresses of life have their own insistence. We have abundant cause for thanksgiving. The lesions of the war are rapidly healing. The great army of freemen, which America sent to the defense of Liberty, returning to the grateful embrace of the nation, has resumed the useful pursuits of peace, as simply and as promptly as it rushed to arms in obedience to the country’s call. The equal justice of our laws has received steady vindication in the support of a law-abiding people against various and sinister attacks, which have reflected only the baser agitations of war, now happily passing. In plenty, security and peace, our virtuous and self-reliant people face the future, its duties and its opportunities. May we have vision to discern our duties; the strength, both of hand and resolve, to discharge them; and the soundness of heart to realize that the truest opportunities are those of service. In a spirit, then, of devotion and stewardship we should give thanks in our hearts and dedicate ourselves to the service of God’s merciful and loving purposes to His children. Wherefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States do hereby designate Thursday, the twenty-fifth day of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and I call upon my countrymen to cease from their ordinary tasks and avocations upon that day, giving it up to the remembrance of God and His blessings, and their dutiful and grateful acknowledgment. In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done in the district of Columbia this twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and twenty, and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and forty-fifth. WOODROW WILSON By the President: BAINBRIDGE COLBY, Secretary of State. Woodrow Wilson, Proclamation 1580Thanksgiving, 1920 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/206684