Stagecoach Inn Museum

Built in 1876, this historic structure first operated as the Grand Union Hotel serving travelers on the route between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. This building played a major role in the development and construction of the stage line transportation network within California. Today, the building is operated by the Conejo Recreation and Park Department and operates as a historic museum.

This building was completed eleven years after the Civil War and was built by carpenter and businessman James Hammell. Hammell wanted to construct a hotel along the stagecoach route from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. He purchased 4,200 acres of land from his friend John Edwards and used redwood brought by the sea from Northern California. One month before the grand opening of the hotel, the Coast Line Stage Company changed its stagecoach route, which threatened Hammell's plan for the hotel. He postponed the opening to August of 1876 but proceeded with the opening. After the drought of 1877-1878, Hammell sold the property and it changed hands many times before Cecil Haigh bought the hotel in 1885. Haigh passed the property on to his grandson, H. Allen Hays, who owned the building until the Conejo Valley Historical Society acquired it and deeded the property to the Conejo Recreation and Park Department.

The hotel was threatened with demolition as part of a larger plan to expand the Ventura Freeway. However, the building was granted historical landmark status and repurposed into a museum open to the general public as part of local plans to celebrate the nation's bicentennial. After many renovations, the museum opened up in 1976 on Independence Day, the very day that James Hammell wanted to open the first version of the hotel on. Not to mention, it happened exactly 100 years after the opening year of the Grand Union Hotel. The museum houses many exhibits like the Carriage House, the Timber School, the Anderson Exhibit Hall, and the Newbury Pioneer House.

“Stagecoach Inn Park & Museum,” Conejo Recreation & Park District. Accessed June 16th 2021. https://www.crpd.org/park/stagecoach-inn-park-museum/

“Stagecoach Inn Museum-Newbury Park, California,” Atlas Obscura. Accessed June 16th 2021. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/stagecoach-inn