Best Museums

Well I think its safe to say that all of us here have a love of history.

What are some of the better museums you have been to, that you would recommend for a visit? I have been to quite a few...mostly centering around Civil War stuff. But some of them were really lacking on what they have in them. Our local museums are the worse...the Civil War tore though here in our backyards, and in my county's museum, there stands one little display case with a uniform and hat in it, and a letter from the war. That's it. My grandpa is who donated the letter to them...written by my 3x great grandpa. There's actually a local frame shop in town that has a 20x a better display of relics in it; from a local digger who owns the shop. So there are some good little gems out there. That's what I'm wanting to hear from.

1. By far...the best I have ever been to for Civil War relics is the White Oak museum near Fredericksburg, Virginia. All of the battlefield visitors centers will have museum pieces...but the White Oak has more than any place I have ever seen in my entire life. I go to a lot of the relic shows...some are the biggest shows in the US with thousands of relics at them. The White Oak has more than any I've ever seen in one place. We went to visit it one day to kind of kill an hour or two. Ended up spending half a day there and I still want to go back. Most everything they have is dug relics...those that have been found. And the majority of it was found by the owner, his family, and friends. From the outside, it doesn't look like much. On the inside...I think it costs $5 to get in....and it's worth much more than that.

2. For a different kind of history...the wife recently rewatched the movie Titanic. And she wanted to go visit this big Titanic display thing they have up in Pigeon Forge, TN. They have a big building that is close to the scale of what the ship was...that's what the building actually is in the shape of. It was kind of expensive to get in...around $25 a person. But it is more of an interactive museum. They have two really nice pieces that stood out to me, a pocket watch that was taken from a person during the body recovery effort, that was stopped at 2:35 a.m. and also a violin from one of the musicians on board that did not survive. Another body recovery ship found the owner still clutching it in his arms. It was a piece given to the owner by his fiancee...whom when it was returned to her, she never married anybody and it ended up getting passed on to her sister, etc and finally ended up in the museum. Very neat story and to see it. I learned a lot about the actual ship and they had a lot of photos I had never seen before. The only thing that bugged me was the interactive part. They have workers dressed as crew members that would engage you as if they were actually back in that time period and would go into their life story, etc. I guess some like that kind of thing...I myself, like just walking around at my own pace and looking at everything. Most of what the museum has, are things taken from the ship prior to the voyage in which it sank. They made a few stops at different ports before they began the big voyage that was suppose to go to New York...picking up people and letting some of them off. So a lot of the artifacts they had were from that. They had some plates, silverware, lots of ticket stubs, etc. Also had rooms built to scale of the 1st through 3rd class quarters. Make no mistake...being in Pigeon Forge, it is a tourist attraction but I found it interesting and worth visiting at least once. One VERY cool thing they had that wasn't a relic...was a room that was totally dark to simulate how dark it was when they hit the berg, and it had a water pool you could touch to feel how cold the water actually was. The water is cold enough that when you stick your hand in it, it feels like needles sticking you. After just a few seconds, your hand is numb. It has me wanting to go to see the BIG museum they have in Vegas for it.

If you want to try something a little different, stop in at the Tillamook Air Museum on the Oregon coast.
I have been there a couple of times. Very enjoyable. Look it up on line. Then after you have gone through
the museum, stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. UUMMMM!

For a history lesson on pre CW life

Old Hickory's homestead over there in Nashville TN Daniel (President Andrew Jacksons home) Born: March 15, 1767, Waxhaws -- Died: June 8, 1845, Nashville, TN

Went there about 10 yrs back and it was very interesting/cool ;-)

Takes about 1/2 a day to walk the entire home/grounds including an on site museum packed with period items of all kinds as well as the home itself being stuffed with period items;

has old out buildings, and slave cabins on site, a graveyard where him, his wife, his family and some of his slaves are all buried and even some of the original cotton field from the plantation itself is still on site

they have an excavated area where they dug up stuff from around the 1820s/30s period and is on display = (very cool)

house is massive - recommend it to any/everyone if you ever get to the Nashville area

Daniel me and my wife went to the Vegas Titanic exhibit last year...

No words to describe...

AWESOME comes to mind..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Non CW related but the Ripley's believe it or not museum has a wide variety of oddities that will spark anyones interest. Its kinda overwhelming at first but alot of cool stuff.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2015 12:54AM by aguerrero56.

Incredible collection and history of the commercial relations between the Native Americans of the Great Lakes and Plains and the Spanish, French and Anglo traders, settlers and Military.

[www.furtrade.org]

Also, for a fascinating example of metal detector finds integrated with well researched history, take a look at"Crossing the Plains with Custer"

[www.amazon.com]

My (wintertime) neighbor Jon Nelson found the hundreds of artifacts and photographed them for the book. It's pricy, but it's a good excuse to check out your local library's Interlibrary Loan service.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

White Oak Museum in Fredericksburg, Va. is one of the nicest I've been to. Loads of artifacts and examples of what Civil War life was like. Authentic huts and such that recreate Civil War life.

My 2 favorites here in my town are the Fort Pitt museum and the Heinz History Center. The Fort Pitt museum isn't very big but has some great stuff and admission is cheap. Right next to it is the Block House which was a redoubt. The only surviving part of the Fort and it's the oldest building standing in the city. You can go in the Block House for free and get some cool souvenirs. The Heinz History Center is much bigger and it's awesome. I can spend the whole day there and don't want to leave yet. They have excellent sammiches at the little deli there too. [www.heinzhistorycenter.org]

Discrimination is the root of all evil.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2015 04:01PM by PittsburghWill.

If you have not been to gettysburg it will be a humbling experience to see all the monuments, many showing specific locations and circumstances of soldier and officer deaths.

Henry Ford museum was a pretty cool museum to visit. CW related museum I liked the Georgia Cyclorama and the visitors center at Chickamauga battlefield is pretty neat.

The Steam Boat Arabia Museum in Kansas City Mo. The steamboat sunk in 1856 and being covered by mud depleted the oxygen which in turn preserved 200 tons of merchandise. The museum is like seeing a 1850's general retail store with tools leather and rubber shoes beaver hats dishes and lot's of hardware. They have a restoration on going and all of the boat's merchandise is on display. .

[www.mines.edu] amazing collection back in 90's haven't been since then! Me a old rock~hound here, I've found all kinds of droperite and leaverite !! HH



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2015 02:56AM by rapidroy7.

If your ever traveling along interstate 80 through Nevada and feel like taking a break, Elko has a pretty cool museum. Quite a bit of history from the 1800's along the wagon route west.

Rawlins WY has to take the cake for the strangest display....a pair of shoes, doctors bag and ashtray....along with the story of the outlaw they were made out of. No joke!!! They went on to elect the guy that made these items to be their first Democratic Governor....go figure. [www.roadsideamerica.com]

Kenny

For firearms and western art,Remington, the Winchester museum in Cody,Wyoming is outstanding. This is on the south entrance route going to Yellowstone.

Kind of funny that you mentioned the white oak museum. I live right down the road and go there all the time.

The best mineral museum I have been in outside of the Smithsonian is the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Tech in Houghton, Michigan. Unfortunately, they seem to charge admission now.

I've never seen them, but my wife still raves about some of the museums in Chicago.

And a big +1 on those Cody, WY museums.

I just learned of a new one at Shiloh today. Owned and operated by Larry Deberry. It's by the Shiloh Park but not within the park. The finds all came from around the Park. It has alot of fine pieces in it from what I was told today. I am going to see it this Sunday afternoon just before I go detecting. If anyone wants directions....send me a PM and I will send an address (but please wait until I have visited and picked up a brochure with their address and phone number. Deep Detecting.......kevin

Just a plug, here, for a little known site in eastern NC.

[www.fortbranchcivilwarsite.com]

I don't suppose there are too many earthen works Confederate civil war forts still in existence. And the location is close enough that someone visiting NC's outer banks (and many do) can visit this site with a side trip of less than 2 hours.
The cannons on display at the fort lay in the waters of the Roanoke River for over a hundred years, until a small group of individuals undertook the task and expense of raising them. When they reached shore, the cannons were confiscated as state property
(and I suppose the individuals were arrested?). One of the party was a descendant of Confed Brigadier General Lewis Armistead,

[militaryhistory.about.com]

who died from wounds suffered in Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. I learned of this Fort Branch cannon incident from a brother Armistead when we were both members of the Guilford Grays, NSSA.

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?