9 Incredibly Underrated American City Museums

graphics museum are nerveless . scientific discipline museums are educational . But if you ’re the kind of person whoreallywants to learn about the metropolis you ’re visiting – about its chronicle , its buildings , what it was like when Daniel Day - Lewis fight an larger-than-life gang state of war against Leonardo DiCaprio – there ’s nowhere better than the local metropolis museum . And while , sure , some are nothing more than a collection of old word-painting and trinkets , others offer luxuriant interactive experience , unrecorded - action historical recreations , and , in one sheath , the world ’s largest No . 2 pencil ( ! ! ) . Here are nine you should n’t will townspeople without visiting .

Detroit Historical Museum

Detroit , MIThis historic museum bear tribute to Detroit ’s heritage , both automotive and melodic . In addition to insure some of the first motorcar produce and listen how Detroit became The Motor City , you ’ll check about the metropolis ’s famous musicians – from The Supremes to Bob Seger to Madonna – in the Kid Rock Music Lab . The bottom level is rest home to “ The Streets of Old Detroit , ” where you could walk among a recreated version of the urban center from 150 years ago , while the Allesee Gallery of Culture is house to city relics like the former augury from Tiger Stadium and the jumbo Little Caesars statue .

City Museum

St. Louis , MOWhatever you do when you chat this brainchild of the late artist Bob Cassilly , do n’t call for for a map . The idea here is to wander and observe : turn one corner and discover yourself in a hall of funhouse mirror . Turn another and go into a paries made out of bottle cap . It ’s a occult , surrealistic journey that commence in a parking lot ( with nett run , slides , and an give up planing machine ) and end on a roof top out with a Ferris wheel and teetering school day motorcoach . In between , the aforementioned largest No . 2 pencil in the world . Also , there ’s a bar so you may bask a bracing drink after all the excitation of … satiate in the world ’s largest Scantron ?

The Bishop Museum

Honolulu , HIWith over 2.4 million historic object , 14 million insect specimens , and one million historical photographs , Honolulu ’s Bishop is one of America ’s most important museum . Not only will visitant learn about the people and refinement of Honolulu , but also the plant life and animate being of the part , as it ’s pretty much the biological hub of the South Pacific . But the museum ’s standoff extends beyond astonishing collections ; the edifice themselves date back to 1898 and are invest with hanging ocean creatures ( including a full spermatozoon whale skeleton ) and artifacts from Hawaiian royal family .

Mill City Museum

Minneapolis , MNAs Detroit was built by car , Minneapolis was built by … flour ? Yep . Minneapolis was a major texture export hub , and you ’ll learnalllllabout it at this museum build in the wrecking of the one-time Washburn " A " Mill – once the large flour milling machinery IN THE WORLD . The highlight of the sojourn is an eight - report , freight - elevator ride where visitors are taken through recreations of a working flour mill as " early " Minnesotans tell tale of spirit in the mill over audio . The last stop is the 9th floor and a panoramic view of downtown and St. Anthony ’s Falls , the force that once power America ’s milling diligence . During the summer , the ruin also play horde to a concert series .

Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI)

Seattle , street child you look around South Lake Union in Seattle and wonder where all the vanishing relics of the metropolis have kick the bucket , look no further than this old seaplane hangar on the water . It houses Seattle ’s Museum of History & Industry and , in addition to interactive displays that research the founding and story of Seattle , is dot with nostalgic landmarks like seats from the Kingdome , the giant pink “ Toe ” motortruck , and the original R from the Rainier Beer Brewery .

History Colorado

Denver , COThis LEED - license museum is all about technology . Not only can visitors use virtual reality to vaporize off a Steamboat Springs ski jumping or drive an old Model - T across the knit stitch , but they can also take rolling , R2D2 - looking “ Time Machines ” over a giant map of Colorado to learn what was going on during a particular class in history . And then there ’s also Keota , a replica spook town accomplished with a schoolhouse .

John Heinz History Center

Pittsburgh , PAAnother fun fact to win a bar bet : what North American metropolis has the earliest evidence of human habitation ? OK , Pittsburgh , plain . And this museum has the artifacts to test it . Along with both a fully recreate nineteenth - century village and a recreated Native American small town ( yes , TWO villages ! ) where you may adjudicate your hand at throwing hunting spears . But the center is n’t limited to archaeology ; visitors can also explore the neighborhood ’s more - late account at The Ft . Pitt Museum and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum , the latter of which pays testimonial to all things black and yellow and showcases Mario Lemieux ’s Stanley Cup jersey and a life history - sized statue of the Immaculate Reception .

The Cabildo Museum

New Orleans , LAAs you stumble through the Gallic Quarter , you probably did n’t even actualize that one of the most of import buildings in US history is plank right there in the middle of the bars andstrip clubs . This three - story Neo - Colonial behemoth was once the seat of the Louisiana Colonial Government , hosted the sign language of the Louisiana Purchase , and housed the Louisiana Supreme Court when it decidedPlessy v. Ferguson . Now it contains over 1,000 rare artifact that showcase the various culture and backgrounds of the area ; the most interesting among them might be the Napoleon Death Masks – one of only four molds made from the superior general ’s face on his death bed .

Cincinnati Museum Center

Cincinnati , OHCincy is just full of surprise , is n’t it ? Not only does it maintain one ofAmerica ’s best skylines , it ’s also home to this museum , aka themost beautiful place in Ohio . The museum nerve centre is housed in Union Terminal , a 1930sArt Deco train stationthat once served 17,000 passengers day by day and bluster the largest half - noodle in North America . Today , it ’s occupied by a history museum , a fry ’s museum , a natural history museum , and an OMNIMAX that admit large - scale models of the metropolis and ancient cave you could take the air through .

City Museum St. Louis, MO