Linda Mitchell and Kathy Leighton, left, look through a scrapbook from the former Byron Hot Springs School during the East Contra Costa Historical Society’s 2010 Opening Day celebration at the Byer-Nail Museum on March 27.

Visitors enjoyed not only displays from the Hot Springs – known as the interrogation center Camp Tracy during World War II and one of the main themes of this year’s museum displays – but viewed artifacts from the ill-fated Donner Party, WPA paintings of East County pioneer John Marsh, and a 1920 magician’s costume from the Brentwood Theater (now the Delta Cinema). Also on hand was a restored 1947 Dodge fire truck used by the Byron Fire Department and boasting a sparkling new paint job donated by Vornhagen Body and Paint in Brentwood.

The museum is open every Saturday and third Sunday of the month, April through October, from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, call Dave or Joyce at 925-679-1024. Click here to view a video of the festivities.

For more photos, click here.