It is operated by the non-profit Carpinteria Valley Historical Society primarily through membership dues, memorial donations, endowment income, and fund-raising activities.

The museum includes exhibits that reflect the histories of the three cultures that have dwelled in the region: the Chumash people; Spanish and Mexican settlers; and the pioneers.

The museum's community outreach projects include school tours and children's programs as well as lectures offered to the general population, arts and crafts fairs and monthly flea markets.

The museum also houses the non-circulating C. Horace Coshow research library which includes books, maps, newspaper archives, historical photographs and 246 taped interviews about the area with older residents.

Fray Juan Crespí of the Portolà expedition named the village San Roque on August 17, 1769.