558 Best Sights in USA

Works by African American artists from the Savannah area and around the country are on display in this building, which once housed the first school for African American children in Savannah. On permanent exhibit are more than 230 wood carvings by renowned folk artist Ulysses Davis.

This charming museum has exhibitions on the history of the beach communities, the St. Johns River, the fishing and shrimping industry, and the area's early settlers. Its gift shop is a good place to find Florida souvenirs of every variety, from tasteful histories of the area to pure kitsch. The adjacent historical park features a 1911 steam locomotive, railroad foreman's house, and the Mayport Depot. An on-site beaches visitor center is open Thursday through Saturday.

"Museum" might be a stretch for this tiny storefront that's half bookstore, half memorabilia collection. You can see the 1949 Hudson from the movie version of On the Road and the shirt Neal Cassady wore while driving Ken Kesey's Merry Prankster bus, "Further." There are also manuscripts, letters, and early editions by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. But the true treasure here is the passionate and well-informed staff, which often includes the museum's founder, Jerry Cimino: your short visit may turn into an hours-long trip through the Beat era. Excellent walking tours go beyond the museum to take in favorite Beat watering holes and hangouts in North Beach.

The Beaverhead County Museum exhibits Native American artifacts, ranching and mining memorabilia, a homesteader's cabin, agricultural artifacts, a one-room schoolhouse, a Lewis and Clark diorama, a model train, a research center, and a boardwalk imprinted with the area's ranch brands.

Commemorating Knoxville's African-American history with photographs, art, and a large archive of newspapers, this center is located in the former home of one of the city's most prominent Black families. In nearby Morningside Park is a statue of the late Alex Haley, a one-time Knoxville resident and author of the book Roots.

Opened in 1903, this "universal" museum has a little bit of everything: paintings from the Hudson River School, local artifacts, and natural history specimens both animal and mineral. The Hall of Innovation showcases Berkshires innovators whose creations range from special effects for Star Wars to the paper used for U.S. currency. Don't miss the Egyptian mummy, or the aquarium with a touch tank in the basement.

In a restored 1903 railroad station, the museum's collection includes antique rail equipment, vintage items, a children's area, and a large working model railway. Short rides aboard the Lenox Jitney train from one end of the grounds to the other are available. 

The redbrick structure this museum is housed in was built in 1897 to serve as the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Offices. The rooms today are filled with colorful exhibits, photographs, and artifacts that offer a glimpse into the everyday life of Bisbee's early mining community. The exhibit Bisbee: Urban Outpost on the Frontier paints a fascinating portrait of how this "Shady Lady" of a mining town transformed into a true mini urban center. Upstairs, the Digging In exhibit shows you everything you ever wanted to know about copper mining, including what it felt and sounded like in a mining car. This was the first rural museum in the United States to become a member of the Smithsonian Institution Affiliations Program, and it tells a story you can take with you as you wander through Bisbee's funky streets.

Under the shimmering golden dome of the city's original town hall is a vital repository of archival material and special exhibits on the area's development, run by the Boca Raton Historical Society. With advance reservations, you can experience a 40-minute guided tour of Boca Raton's original town hall and a small museum. The Boca Raton Historical Society also runs tours for groups Monday through Thursday (10 am–noon), which take patrons around the museum's exhibits. 

For its size, this small museum inside the Boulder Dam Hotel is well done. It includes hands-on exhibits, oral histories, artifacts from the building of Hoover Dam, and a glimpse at what it was like for Great Depression–era families to pull up roots and settle in the rock and dust of the harsh Mojave Desert. And don't forget to ask museum staff about the city's audio walking tour of 11 historical sites around town.

The famous statesman was born in this house in 1813. He left 20 years later to establish himself as a lawyer, becoming a three-time U.S. senator and arguing more cases before the U.S. Supreme Court than anyone else. This museum recounts the early Douglas years, early town history, and the antislavery movement in Vermont, which abolished slavery before it was even a state.

The history of the Jewish community in Atlanta—particularly those who found their way to the burgeoning city after the Holocaust—is told through a permanent exhibit called Absence of Humanity: The Holocaust Years, 1933–1945. The facility is the largest archive of Georgia Jewish history and also contains a research library and an education center.

The cornerstone of this block-long preservation of early-19th-century commercial and residential buildings is William Lord's Brick Store. Built as a dry-goods store in 1825 in the Federal style, the building has an openwork balustrade across the roofline, granite lintels over the windows, and paired chimneys. Rotating exhibits chronicle the Kennebunk area's history, art, and culture for kids and adults alike. In addition, museum staffers lead walking tours of Kennebunk's National Historic District (Thursday and Saturday from June through October) and of the town's beaches (one Saturday a month from June through October).

Named in honor of former governor Dolph Briscoe, the Briscoe Center at the University of Texas is a go-to scholarly resource for 750,000-plus photographs, thousands of archival documents, hundreds of handmade quilts, and over 50,000 music recordings. The staff are expert researchers who sift through these artifacts to chronicle a fascinating stockpile of American and Texas history. While much of the center functions as a research facility (available by reservation only), frequently changing exhibits of items from the collections are open to the public on weekdays.

These are two museums for the price of one, and both add up to a 40,000-square-foot Texas history lesson and fun for the whole family. In 1881 the Buckhorn Saloon opened as a Texan watering hole, and future president Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders are said to have been among its patrons, as were writer O. Henry and Mexican Revolution leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa. Primary customers after it opened were hunters and trappers, eager for a cold brew and to trade furs and horns. Saloon owner Albert Friedrich collected the horns, some of which his father made into horn chairs. Today the museum features a gigantic collection of taxidermy including, of course, tons of antlers. Famous artifacts include one of Gene Autry's saddles. The self-guided tour starts on the second floor (ADA compliant with elevator) through galleries filled with animals from around the world. In 2006, the Former Texas Rangers Association teamed up with the Buckhorn Saloon & Museum to open the Texas Ranger Museum, with exhibits that recount the stories of law enforcement in the Lone Star State from Stephen Austin on as well as displays of artifacts covering more than 100 years of Texas Ranger history. The café/saloon, with its original marble and cherry wood back-bar, serves brewed draft beer and a full menu of mostly American fare. The gift shop brims with merchandise for all ages.

Established in 2001 just a few blocks north of the Capitol, this fascinating museum (with a massive star statue out front) documents the history of the Lone Star State with excellent interactive exhibits and programming fit for all ages. Nearly 500,000 visitors from around the world tour the 34,000-square-foot museum every year, learning about "The Story of Texas" through permanent and traveling collections that cover prehistoric to modern times. The on-site Star Cafe serves coffee, snacks, and basic lunch fare. Check the events calendar in advance for showtimes at the on-site IMAX theater.

A student-curated collection of artifacts relating to cultures from all over the world is housed here. Clothing, pottery, rugs, weapons, and agricultural tools of Utah's Native American cultures are often on display. A permanent display includes artifacts from the first Provo Tabernacle that BYU students dug up in 2012.

At this small museum, visitors can learn about the roots of Cajun music, as well as the early musicians who shaped this genre that dominates this region of Louisiana. Lovers of music will be excited to find instruments, photographs, reading material, and examples of the evolving technology the public used over the years to listen to their favorite Cajun performers.

More than 150 vehicles—from Model Ts, Hudsons, and Studebakers to modern-day electric-powered ones—are on display at this museum that pays tribute to automotive history and car culture. Check out a replica of Henry Ford's 1896 Quadricycle and a 1920s roadside café and garage exhibit. The museum is south of Downtown and Old Sacramento.

When it comes to the history of road travel in America, it's hard not to think fondly of Historic Route 66, and this 4,500-square-foot museum is chock-full of memorabilia—maps and postcards, photographs, paintings, nostalgic displays—that brings the iconic highway to life. Highlights include a Studebaker horse carriage, a 1917 Model T Ford, and an original concession stand from Santa Monica Beach. Friendly volunteers are more than happy to answer questions and take your picture inside the flower-painted VW Love Bus. There's a large gift shop where you can sift through Mother Road souvenirs. 

Showcasing longtime and temporary residents who helped elevate the Golden State, this museum contains permanent exhibits covering statehood, the experiences of California Native Americans, life for Japanese Americans in World War II internment camps, and the impact of women. The California Hall of Fame honors Walt Disney, Jackie Robinson, Bruce Lee, Amelia Earhart, writer and Sacramento native Joan Didion, and other familiar names.

A California state park, the museum has displays on gold-rush history including a replica hard-rock mine shaft to walk through, a miniature stamp mill, and a 13-pound chunk of crystallized gold.

This museum celebrates the art, history, and culture of Cape Ann. The museum’s collection includes fine art from the 19th century to the present alongside artifacts from the fishing, maritime, and granite-quarrying industries, as well as textiles, furniture, a library archive, and four historic structures. A variety of tours offer insight into the collection and Cape Ann.

The fossilized skeleton of a 1.5-million-year-old giant sloth (20 feet long, 6,000 pounds) makes a great photo backdrop as you enter North Carolina's oldest continuously operating museum, founded in 1898. The chronological Cape Fear Stories exhibit includes a room-sized diorama of colonial Wilmington and traces local history from early Native Americans through the Civil War to the 20th century. There's also an interactive model of the International Space Station, a case of mementos from basketball star Michael Jordan, and a kid-friendly nature-based wing with an oversized Venus flytrap and a beaver dam children can crawl inside. A rotating exhibit space displays photographs and items on loan from the Smithsonian Institution.

Established to showcase a prominent family's rodeo artifacts, this community museum now chronicles the area's mining history as well as the cultural legacy of Native Americans and homesteaders. Festival of Nations exhibit takes a look back to the event held in 1951 which celebrated the rich diversity of the town's residents.

One of the largest collections of antique carousel pieces in the country is housed here. Full-size pieces in the Coney Island, Country Fair, and Philadelphia styles are on display, as are miniature carousels. The museum is also home to an arts gallery, which hosts changing exhibitions, and the Museum of Fire History, which displays photos, antique equipment, and memorabilia. The museum maintains the Bushnell Park Carousel in Hartford (closed January and February).

The country's largest collection of old horse-drawn vehicles—painstakingly restored—is exhibited here, with everything from polished hearses to police buggies to old stagecoaches and circus vehicles. In August, the Old Spanish Days Fiesta borrows many of the vehicles for a jaunt around town. Docents lead free tours from 1 to 4 pm the third Sunday of the month.

This historic train depot was built around 1911 (the first 1885 structure was destroyed by fire) and was one of the original Harvey Houses, providing dining and lodging for rail passengers. Waitresses at the depots were popularized in movies such as The Harvey Girls with Judy Garland. It now houses offices and three museums: the Western American Railroad, Route 66 Mother Road, and the NASA Goldstone Deep Space Visitor Center, but you can still walk along the porticos of the impressive Spanish Renaissance Classical building, or stroll into the restored lobby to see the original staircase, terrazzo floor, and copper chandeliers.