558 Best Sights in USA

Downtown St. Petersburg's Florida Holocaust Museum is one of the largest of its kind in the United States. In addition to hosting rotating exhibits, it has the permanent History, Heritage, and Hope exhibit; an original boxcar; and an extensive collection of photographs, art, and artifacts. One compelling display includes portraits and biographies of Holocaust survivors.

The museum was conceived as a learning center for children, so many of the displays avoid overly graphic content. Signs are posted outside galleries where the subject matter might be too intense for kids.

The town's history and the logging industry that helped put Forks on the map in the early 20th century, earning it the prestigious nickname of "Logging Capital of the World" by the 1970s, are explored in this extensive indoor-outdoor museum. A pair of life-size figurines working a massive crosscut saw through an even more massive log marks the entrance, and artifacts include antique logging vehicles, chain saws and other equipment, historical dioramas, displays of furnished pioneer cabins, and samples of trees commonly harvested in the area's forests, including Western hemlocks, Douglas firs, and Sitka spruces. Today, the timber industry has declined, and tourism and other businesses, including nearby correctional facilities, have provided jobs. 

Not far from the Camino Real Center, Fort Craig National Historic Site was established after the New Mexico Territory became part of the United States to prevent raids by the Apache and Navajo peoples and to secure the trade routes within the region. The growth of Socorro and what is now Truth or Consequences can be traced to the protection the fort provided between 1854 and the mid-1880s, when it was decommissioned. Battles west of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War were relatively rare, but in 1862 the Confederate army crossed the Rio Grande and headed to Valverde, north of Fort Craig, with the goal of cutting off the fort from the Union military headquarters in Santa Fe. Confederate forces first were sent into retreat but later won a few battles and made the Union forces withdraw. The rebels later occupied Santa Fe for a few months. Today, signs describe the various buildings and solitary life at the outpost, where only a couple of masonry walls and numerous foundations remain. Historic markers are very informative, however, and a well-maintained gravel trail winds among the ruins. The roads to Fort Craig, which is about 35 miles south of Socorro, can become hard to pass during rainy weather. During the closest weekend to significant dates of February 21 and 22, historical reenactors re-create the Civil War Battle of Valverde and even "capture" the nearby city of Socorro in a grand finale.

The 1856-vintage Fort Dalles Surgeon's Quarters ranks among the state's oldest history museums. The first visitors came through the doors in 1905. On display in authentic hand-hewn log buildings, originally part of a military base, are the personal effects of some of the region's settlers and a collection of early automobiles. The entrance fee gains you admission to the Swedish log-style Anderson Homestead museum across the street, which also displays pioneer artifacts.

Three miles from the fort's main gate are the Fort Huachuca military museums. The late-19th-century bachelor officers' quarters and the annex across the street provide a record of military life on the frontier and the Buffalo Soldiers regiments, most of whom were based here. More often than not, you'll be sharing space with new cadets learning about the history of this far-flung outpost. Motion sensors activate odd little sound bites in the multimedia experience. Another half block south, the U.S. Army Intelligence Museum focuses on American intelligence operations from the Apache Scouts through Desert Storm. Code machines, codebooks, decoding devices, and other intelligence-gathering equipment are on display. You need a driver's license or other photo identification to get on base. International visitors need to call at least three weeks in advance to arrange for a military escort.

On 15 acres at Fort Walla Walla Park, a 17-building pioneer village depicts the region's life in the 1800s, and five halls house military, agricultural, textile, and transportation exhibits.

This small but charming window into the past is housed in a former church and features fossils and displays related to early settlement in the area. See an old still and wine vat, as well as a taxidermied two-headed calf.

Set on the slope of Black Rock Mountain, this outdoor museum re-creates life in Appalachia before the days of electricity and running water. The museum features a collection of authentic and reconstructed log cabins, a gristmill, a blacksmith's shop, and an operating weaving workshop, along with tools and displays about life in daily life and mountain culture. The Foxfire organization was born in 1966 when students at the Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School wrote articles for a magazine based on generations-old family stories. Their excitement in chronicling life in the Appalachians has led to more than a dozen Foxfire books, which have sold nearly 9 million copies.

Here you'll find numerous items illustrating local history, including Native American artifacts. Revolving exhibits have featured the Lewis and Clark expedition, the railroad, World War II, agriculture, and aviation.

This still-operating tavern, where General George Washington celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, is today a museum and national historic site. Here, in his prepresidential days, Washington bid an emotional farewell to his officers upon the British evacuation of New York. Today, this historic landmark has two fully furnished period rooms—including the Long Room, site of Washington's address—and other modest displays of 18th- and 19th-century American history, as well as temporary exhibits. You won't find revolutionaries in the tavern and restaurant these days, but you will enjoy a cozy colonial atmosphere and well-made lunches and dinners of classic American dishes. There's also a piano bar upstairs with live music most nights.

During a period of the 19th century, one of the South's most lucrative slave-trading businesses, Franklin and Armfield, operated out of this Federal-style row house on Duke Street. More than 3,750 enslaved men, women, and children were held here between 1828 and 1861, en route to cotton and sugar plantations and markets in the deep South. Recently renovated and expanded, the museum has three floors of rotating exhibits that strive to reframe the undertold stories of enslaved and free Black people who lived in—and were trafficked through—Alexandria.

Pick up a village walking map and delve into Freeport's rich past through the exhibits at the Freeport Historical Society, located in Harrington House, a hybrid Federal- and Greek Revival–style home built in the 1830s. It's a good idea to call ahead to make sure it's open. The historical society also offers walking tours a few times a month in the summer.

For a dose of colorful foothills history, make a quick stop at this engaging local museum centered on two 1870s houses. Self-guided tours are available from dawn to dusk; museum visits are by appointment.

This interactive living-history museum devoted to the county's early iron industry is home to a number of interesting attractions, including a bullet-scarred stagecoach that ran in the days of Butch Cassidy and the oldest standing home in all of southern Utah, built in 1851. Local artisans demonstrate pioneer crafts, and numerous mining artifacts and tools are on display.

The Frontier Montana Museum displays hats, saddles, spurs, chaps, and all things cowboy. Also here are Civil War items, Native American artifacts, and Desert John's Saloon, complete with whiskey memorabilia.

West of downtown, this redbrick former jail, built in 1911, serves as a reminder of the rough-and-tumble days of the past. Inside, the Gallatin Historical Society displays Native American artifacts, a model of Fort Ellis, a life-size reconstruction of an 1870s log cabin, a research library, photo archives, and a bookstore.

Housed in a replica of the town's 1880s-era train station, this museum displays Galloping Goose No. 5, one of only seven specially designed engines built in the 1930s. The "Geese" were motored vehicles built from touring-car bodies that could operate for much less than steam-powered engines.

Housed in the carriage house of the historic Ashton Villa, one of the city's historic Victorian-era mansions, the exhibit ("And Still We Rise . . .") tells the story of the origin of Juneteenth, the day in 1865 (June 19, 1865 to be exact), when Union general Gordon Granger and others read General Order No. 3, announcing that the formerly enslaved residents of Texas had been emancipated 2½ years earlier by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (Confederate general Robert E. Lee had surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant in April of that year). June 19 has since been declared a federal holiday in the United States to commemorate this event.

This museum preserves a little-known part of the region's history. Between 1912 and 1968, the gatekeeper who lived on this site was responsible for monitoring the lake level, using a winch system (still used today and visible just outside the museum) to keep the water at the correct height. Also here, the Marion Steinbach Indian Basket Museum displays intricate baskets from 85 tribes.

This museum preserves the legacy of the Central of Georgia Railway, an integral part of the industrial heritage of Savannah and of the South. A step into a different era, the museum is home to numerous railcars and boxcars, working diesel and steam locomotives, and a rare functioning railroad turntable. Around the corner is an iconic 125-foot-tall smokestack and the original quarters for workers and managers. Children of all ages will appreciate the expansive model-train exhibit, a fully operable rendition of a train traveling through the region. Ride on a historic diesel or steam locomotive.

At the distinctively homespun Geronimo Springs Museum, you can visit a room dedicated to Ralph Edwards' career and his very personal connection to the town that renamed itself after his quiz show, and you can view the giant skull of a woolly mammoth that was excavated in the nearby Gila National Forest. There's also a pictorial history of the dental chair, an essential display on cowboy hats and the personalities that wear them, and a pretty darn good collection of early Mimbres, Tularosa, Alma, and Hohokam pottery. Also check out the excellent bookshop with regional titles. The county visitor center is next door.

This museum presents the story of the Civil War era and the Battle of Gettysburg through artifacts, a 20-minute film, 3D videos and photos, and interactive displays. At the front desk, you can book battlefield tours (for a fee) by Victorian carriage, horseback, electric bike, or foot. Costumed guides lead 90-minute walking tours of the town (also for a fee).

Built in 1875 on Hutchinson Island, this is the only remaining example of 10 such structures that were erected by the U.S. Life-Saving Service (a predecessor of the Coast Guard) to aid stranded sailors. The displays here include antique lifesaving equipment, maps, artifacts from nearby wrecks, and boatbuilding tools. The museum is affiliated with the nearby Elliott Museum; package tickets are available.

At the Gilpin History Museum, photos and reproductions, as well as vintage pieces from different periods of Gilpin County history, paint a richly detailed portrait of life in a typical rowdy mining community.

This small, two-gallery museum, the first of its kind in the United States, presents multimedia exhibits from its vast holdings covering San Francisco's queer history. In the main gallery, you might hear the audiotape Harvey Milk made for the community in the event of his assassination; explore artifacts from "Gayborhoods," lost landmarks of the city's gay past; or flip through a memory book with pictures and thoughts on some of the more than 20,000 San Franciscans lost to AIDS. Though perhaps not for everyone (those offended by sex toys and photos of lustily frolicking naked people may, well, be offended), the museum offers an inside look at these communities so integral to the fabric of San Francisco life.

Two miles south of John Day, Canyon City is a small town that feels as if it hasn't changed much since the Old West days. Memorabilia from the gold rush is on display at the town's small museum, along with Native American artifacts and antique musical instruments. Drop in at the neighboring pioneer jail, which the locals pilfered years ago from a nearby crumbling ghost town.

More than 30 pioneer-era buildings have been brought here from other parts of Grant County. They include a blacksmith forge, saloon, barbershop, and printing office.

Housed in the town's former fire station, this museum promotes and celebrates the Mount Desert Island region's maritime heritage. Inside, a map of the Great Harbor at the mouth of Somes Sound anchors a display that helps visitors orient themselves to the area as well as the museum. Interesting changing exhibits about local history have a nautical theme and include photographs and objects like ship models from the museum’s collection as well as other area institutions.

This surprisingly sophisticated little museum right next door to the Phillips County Historical Museum houses some of Montana's finest fossils and includes a fossil preparation laboratory that visitors can view. Specimens on display include Roberta, a well-preserved brachylophosaur, and Leonardo, which has been celebrated as the best-preserved dinosaur fossil ever discovered. Both specimens were unearthed near Malta. Other gems include rotating exhibits of fossil collections and a great kids' education program. The station includes a gift shop. Amateur dino hounds can sign up here for a guided dig.