Riverside Metropolitan Museum

History Collection

The History Collection includes citrus picking/packing related tools and equipment, household furnishings, fine and decorative arts, machinery, tools, architectural elements, dolls, textiles and costumes, archaeological collections, and works of art.

Citrus Industry

Citrus Industry artifacts include picking and packing equipment, packinghouse machinery, labels, grove implements, and other associated artifacts.

Fine and Decorative Arts

Fine and decorative arts with a Riverside provenance include Arts and Crafts and Victorian period artifacts, including the Stickley brothers, Louis C. Tiffany, and others. Among the paintings are portraits of Riverside residents Judge Miguel and Minerva Estudillo by California Impressionist C.W. Tanner, Hovsep Pushman’s portrait of Mission Inn founder Frank Miller, and local scenes of "Riverside’s Chinatown" by Lillian Whaite, and “From Easter Mountain” by Tonio Whaite.

Textiles and Costumes

The textiles and costumes collection include historic quilts and coverlets, including the 1893 Citrus Heritage Quilt and a rare 1818 embroidered blanket by Frank Miller’s ancestress Allis Miller. Twenty of the Museum’s quilts were made by three generations of a New Hampshire family who moved to Riverside. Costumes in the collection encompass the 19th and 20th centuries garments worn by Riverside residents.