Specialty Museums in the US

[Gumby]

A couple I'd add in the SD area -

Mammoth museum - https://www.mammothsite.org/
Working dig on mammoths

Minuteman Missle Silo - https://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm
There is the crew quarters, the missle itself, and nearby is airforce base open to tours

Been to both and found them very interesting. As to the latter, don't forget the South Dakota Air and Space Museum, located next to the front gate of Ellsworth AFB.

 

[pb4uski]

DW and I were in Groton/Mystic CT area in September for a family golf tournament and had some time to kill and went to the Submarine Force Museum adjacent to Naval Submarine Base New London.... it was interesting (and free) and features the USS Nautilus (first nuclear powered sub).

 

[johnnyfuego]

For those who have a bent towards western heritage, here are a few that I have been to and recommend. Many more are out there for sure. Listed by city in no particular order.
Tulsa - Gilcrease Museum
Oklahoma City - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Lubbock - National Ranching Heritage Center, Texas Tech, Museum of Texas Tech University
Colorado Springs - Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Museum of the American Cowboy
Fort Sumner, NM - Billy the Kid Museum
Fort Worth - Stockyards Museum, National Cowgirl Museum & HOF, National Multicultural
Western Heritage Museum, Texas Cowboy HOF
Waco - Texas Ranger HOF and Museum
Gene Autry, Ok - Autry Museum of the American West
Corpus Christ/Kingsville, Tx - King Ranch Museum in town and tour of King Ranch proper just
outside of town. While in the Kingsville/Corpus Christi area - not western
heritage but well worth a visit - USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier Museum with a
caveat - visit the Lex in the cooler months. All that metal and the flight deck
get very hot in the summer months.
Rockport, Tx - Fulton Mansion

 

[Relaytest]

For those who have a bent towards western heritage, here are a few that I have been to and recommend. Many more are out there for sure. Listed by city in no particular order.
Tulsa - Gilcrease Museum
Oklahoma City - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Lubbock - National Ranching Heritage Center, Texas Tech, Museum of Texas Tech University
Colorado Springs - Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Museum of the American Cowboy
Fort Sumner, NM - Billy the Kid Museum
Fort Worth - Stockyards Museum, National Cowgirl Museum & HOF, National Multicultural
Western Heritage Museum, Texas Cowboy HOF
Waco - Texas Ranger HOF and Museum
Gene Autry, Ok - Autry Museum of the American West
Corpus Christ/Kingsville, Tx - King Ranch Museum in town and tour of King Ranch proper just
outside of town. While in the Kingsville/Corpus Christi area - not western
heritage but well worth a visit - USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier Museum with a
caveat - visit the Lex in the cooler months. All that metal and the flight deck
get very hot in the summer months.
Rockport, Tx - Fulton Mansion

Adding to this list, I recommend The Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine TX.

 

[Nemo2]

Kingsville, Tx - King Ranch Museum in town and tour of King Ranch proper just
outside of town.

Enjoyed the tour about twenty years ago......given its history it's kinda sad that the ranch devolved, (or perhaps it's 'evolved'), into a consortium.

(The guy that gave our tour was one of the last descendants of the original families, brought up from Mexico, still affiliated, (at that time), with the ranch.)

 

[RetMD21]

These a a little less mainstream from our 2019 travels:

The Cornish Pump and Mining Museum, Iron Mountain Mich

First Armored Division and Fort Bliss Museum, El Paso

 

[EastWest Gal]

Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA. I’ve been there twice and it’s fascinating. You can watch students working with a master glass blower there. It isn’t just glass blowing, though. It’s fascinating to watch.

 

[DrRoy]

Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA. I’ve been there twice and it’s fascinating. You can watch students working with a master glass blower there. It isn’t just glass blowing, though. It’s fascinating to watch.

Have you been to Corning, NY or Toledo, OH for the glass museums?

 

[Extra Medium]

Museum of WWII in New Orleans.

International Spy Museum and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe (and her house, Ghost Ranch, just out of town.

I also think you can’t go wrong with historical reenactment sites, but this might just be my own bias.

 

[friar1610]

The Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton, MA. The name says it all although there is often a special exhibit on a subject of Russia or Soviet art, history, politics, etc.

https://www.museumofrussianicons.org

Also, the National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, RI. In a Newport summer "cottage" along Bellevue Ave.

https://www.americanillustration.org

 

[friar1610]

Museum of WWII in New Orleans.

International Spy Museum and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe (and her house, Ghost Ranch, just out of town.

I also think you can’t go wrong with historical reenactment sites, but this might just be my own bias.

There is an interesting podcast series called "Spycast" that is produced by the International Spy Museum. I listen to it regularly and hope to visit the museum some day.

 

[michelek]

There is an interesting podcast series called "Spycast" that is produced by the International Spy Museum. I listen to it regularly and hope to visit the museum some day.

You will love the museum. I also listen to the podcast regularly. Give yourself plenty of time to experience the entire museum. When you enter they will try to push you through like you are just a random tourist but if you spend time there you will get to the meat of the exhibits and be able to experience most of the podcasts you have listened to.
Bonus: if you bring a small child they can actually climb through ductwork and spy on the visitors to the museum!

 

[Nemo2]

Haven't been there for 20+ years, but did anyone mention Tillamook Air Museum?

 

[Koogie]

The glass blowing talk reminded me of two little museums that DW and I enjoyed on a visit to Cape Cod.

DW enjoyed the glass blowing demonstration at the Sandwich Glass Museum:
https://sandwichglassmuseum.org/glassblowing-demonstrations/


My inner 10 year old LOVED the Whydah Pirate Museum:
https://www.discoverpirates.com/

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I just thought of this one. It's an art museum, which i guess is a specialty museum by definition ... but the architecture, by Santiago Calatrava, makes it special in its own right.
https://mam.org/

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I almost forgot about the Kohler Plumbing Museum, underwritten by one of the wealthiest families in the Midwest. https://www.us.kohler.com/us/kdc-lower-level/article/CNT129300008.htm It's part of the Kohler Design Showroom, which also highlights the company's most modern fixtures. Pretty interesting -- I think "This Old House" paid it a visit recently.

They also have an art museum in Sheboygan, and the plumbing in the public restrooms is exquisite.

 

[Car-Guy]

I'm not sure if these have been listed here yet but in anycase, they are worth mentioning again.

If you are vising the south/central Tennessee area, the Jack Daniels Distillery is worth visiting and taking the tour. Part museum and a fully functioning distillery .https://www.jackdaniels.com/en-us/visit-us


The Texas Ranger museum (Law Enforcement/not the baseball team) in Waco Texas is worth a visit too.