The Kitale Museum is Kenya’s first home museum, opening to the public in 1924. Originally known as the Stoneham Museum, it was named after Colonel Hugh Stoneham, a significant contributor and collector of the museum’s antiquities until he died in 1966. When the National Museums of Kenya founded it in 1974, it was called the Kitale Museum.
Kitale’s National Museum of Western Kenya
Before Colonel Stoneham’s death, the Kitale Institution was a privately owned museum. After his death, he left the Kenyan government funding and his complete collection, which included an extensive bug collection, to construct a national museum. The Kitale Museum became the first regional museum to join the Kenya Museum Society in 1974 when a new museum facility was built on 5 acres of land in Kitale.
Kitale Museum is located in Trans-Nzoia County in western Kenya. It’s precisely 380 kilometers northwest of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. On the outskirts of Kitale, 1 km west of the town center, stands the museum. The museum’s holdings are primarily made up of Kenyan tribes such as the Luhya, Maasai, and Turkana. Their traditional Kenyan dwellings, firearms, utensils, and native musical instruments are displayed at the museum. A nature trail, established in 1977 and located around the museum’s back, is also available. This nature walk protects a variety of endangered plants and animals. It’s a peaceful artificial jungle that gives museum visitors a taste of what it’s like to be inside a natural Kenyan rainforest. Animals including Nile crocodiles, leopard tortoises, and deadly snakes like the puff adder, rock python, Gaboon viper, and rhinoceros viper can also be found at the museum.