558 Best Sights in USA

You can almost hear the murmur of passengers and rhythmic, metal-on-metal clatter as you stroll past the old cabooses, railcars, and engines, such as Sante Fe Number 95, that are on display outside the historic Barstow station housing this museum. Inside, the memorabilia includes a train simulator, rail equipment, a model railroad, items from the depot’s Harvey House days, and period dining-car china from railways around the country.

The permanent exhibits here include oral histories, artifacts, and kid-friendly interactive displays tracing the lives of Native Americans, ranchers, homesteaders, immigrants, and railroad workers who lived in the area from 1880 onward. Native American interpretive programs are also offered. The impressive castlelike building that houses the center, and a gift shop, is almost as interesting as the exhibits. At noon on the third Thursday of every month, there is a historical presentation.

You can get a taste of Victorian high life at the Queen Anne–style Wheeler/Stallard House Museum, which displays memorabilia collected by the Aspen Historical Society and features revolving historical exhibits. Your admission fee also covers entrance to the Holden/Marolt Ranching and Mining Museum (open summer only), a hands-on exploration of Aspen's past housed in an old ore-processing building on the western edge of town.

This museum is housed in a long building that served as a barracks for U.S. Army officers. Inside are exhibits such as a collection of guns dating to the Civil War and the plow used by Nathan Meeker to dig up the Utes' pony racetrack.

In the mid-1820s, Colonel John Black built an elegant Federal-style mansion with a distinct full-length front porch and balustrades on a 180-acre estate of fields and woods. Inside the Black House (as it's locally known) is an especially fine elliptical flying staircase and period artifacts from the three generations of the family who lived here. Outside, Woodlawn has a formal garden, a fairy village in the tree nursery, 2 miles of walking trails that Colonel Black used as a bridle path, and a croquet court that's in play. Check the website for court fees and availability as well as information about special events, including children's programs. The trails and gardens are open year-round.

This shrine to the brown soda's image, products, and marketing is, at 62,000 square feet, twice the size of its previous building and features more than 1,200 artifacts never before displayed to the public. You can sip samples of 100 different Coca-Cola products from around the world and peruse more than a century's worth of memorabilia from the corporate archives. The gift shop sells everything from refrigerator magnets to handbags.

Set in a restored 1936 Coast Guard station, this museum—geared as much to kids as adults—features the life of a "Coastie" in the early 1940s, told through personal accounts of the WWII history of St. Simons Island. Exhibits explore how small communities like St. Simons came close to conflict due to the threat of German U-boats just offshore, and how the military shipbuilding industry sprung up in nearby Brunswick. The museum demonstrates how Georgia's Golden Isles were transformed during and after the Second World War and the important role civilians played on the home front.

This facility interprets the history of the December 29, 1890, Wounded Knee Massacre through interactive exhibits with historical photos and documents. Many visitors choose to stop at this convenient location off I--90 in lieu of a stop at the isolated massacre site 80 miles to the south on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where several hundred Native American victims remain buried in a mass grave after being killed by U.S. Army troops.

Several permanent exhibits are dedicated to exploring the heritage, culture, and landscape of Wyoming, covering everything from natural resources to wildlife to historical events. There's a hands-on exhibit geared to children, and the museum hosts several additional temporary exhibits each year. Be sure to check out the semipermanent exhibit of hundreds of whimsical wooden miniatures crafted by Earl Newell. His folk-art pieces from the 1930s show a micro version of Wyoming life, including farm animals, people, and itty-bitty tools.

Exhibits at this history museum on the west side of town focus on Yakama native, pioneer, and 20th-century history, ranging from horse-drawn vehicles to a "neon garden" of street signs. Highlights include a beekeeping exhibit, a wealth of Yakama Tribe art and artifacts, and a model of Yakima native and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas's Washington, D.C., office.

This park provides a look at the history of the cigar industry. Admission includes a tour of La Casita, one of the shotgun houses occupied by cigar workers and their families in the late 1890s. Tours are held every hour between 10 am and 3 pm.

Once frequented by the likes of Teddy Roosevelt and Buffalo Bill Cody, today this log cabin, standing near the exit of Logan Airport, houses a Montana frontier history museum filled with more than 25,000 objects. Check out the chuck wagon, Native American artifacts, wildlife taxidermy, and a Lewis and Clark fur-trading post. A veranda affords unparalleled views of the Bighorn, Pryor, and Beartooth mountains.

The Yellowstone Gateway Museum, on the north side of town in a turn-of-the-20th-century schoolhouse, holds an eclectic collection, including finds from a 10,000-year-old Native American dig site, a flag fragment associated with the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and a Native cultures interpretive exhibit. Outdoor displays include an old caboose, a sheep wagon, a stagecoach, and other pioneer memorabilia.

Whimsical old toys including model trains, dolls, and Hot Wheels cars inhabit Yesterday's Playthings. Admission here grants you access to the Montana Auto Museum, Frontier Montana Museum, and Old Montana Prison Museum.

This small but fascinating gallery showcases area climbing history and the evolution of gear with an impressive collection of artifacts and historical photography.

These historic buildings reflect different eras of Yosemite's history, from the 1850s through the early 1900s. They were moved to Wawona (the largest stage stop in Yosemite in the late 1800s) from various areas of Yosemite in the '50s and '60s. There is a self-guided-tour pamphlet available for 50 cents. Weekends and some weekdays in the summer, costumed docents conduct free blacksmithing and "wet-plate" photography demonstrations, and for a small fee you can take a stagecoach ride.

This small museum consists of a permanent exhibit that focuses on the history of the area and the people who once lived here. An adjacent gallery promotes contemporary and historic Yosemite art in revolving gallery exhibits. A docent demonstrates traditional Native American basket-weaving techniques a few days a week.

This informative museum tells the park's story from the perspective of its human inhabitants, among them Ancestral Puebloans and early Mormon settlers. Permanent exhibits illustrate how humans have dealt with wildlife, plants, and natural forces. Temporary exhibits have touched on everything from vintage park-employee photography to the history of Union Pacific Railroad hotels. Don't miss the incredible view of Towers of the Virgin from the back patio.