Bolt's Antique Tool Museum

Bolt's Antique Tool Museum (BATM) is the only known museum of its kind in world, with a display of over 13,000 of the most important items ever invented by mankind: Hand Tools!

This museum is not only an asset to the people of Oroville and its surrounding communities, but also to the county, state, country and the rest of the world too! Discover antique tool displays representing those thought to be made by the Egyptians and the Roman Empire (thought to be dated 400 BC), tools representing the creation of 51 different railroads in the United States, antique gas pumps, a surprisingly interesting barbed wire collection, and so much more.

BATM is bursting at the walls with displays, history, cataloging, information, and extremely knowledgeable docents to help in maintaining the museum. Discover tools across eight different categories in different areas of the museum:

Area A: Blacksmithing Tools
Area B: Railroad Tools and Farm Tools
Area C: Monkey Wrenches and Pipe Wrenches
Area D: Alligator Wrenches and Other Tools
Area E: Odd and unusual sizes of tools that are pre-1928
Area F: Detachable Sockets
Area G: Vehicle Brand Tools
Area H: Hubcap Tools

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Admission

$3.00 Adults and Children under 12 Free
$2.50/each for AAA Members or Groups of 15 or more

History of the Museum

Bolt's Antique Tool Museum began in 1957 when Carl "Bud" Bolt, a representative of Snap-On Tools, started collecting tools. He made presentations to school shop students and found that they were most interested in his collection.

Over the decades, Bud and his wife continued collecting tools, and in 2006, they donated the collection to the City of Oroville.

In 2021, the Smithsonian recognized Bolt's museum, in their magazine's "Museum Day Live" article, as the largest documented tool collection in the United States.