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There may be no place on earth with more
museums per square mile than New England. We know of two
reasons (at least) for our huge crop of interesting places to
visit. New Englanders value their past and find expressions of
creativity from any age, including this one, to be a great adventure.
| Obsolete Computer Museum
is not in New England but from first hand experience we know
that many "cutting edge" New Englanders might find
this site worth a visit. |
See also the New England Museum Association for
information, volunteer opportunities
and links to important professional resources.
Explore New
England's Museums by
state
Connecticut
Putting
old buildings and things to new, innovative uses is what we call
"enlightened redevelopment" and that's what they are doing in
Windsor, Connecticut at the new home of the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of
Connecticut.
The museum, founded more than decade ago in New Britain storefront,
just purchased 85,000 square feet of old factory space in the city's
downtown district.
The
new center will provide attractive display
areas for its substantial collections, allow for expanded educational
programs and tours and give the area a strong attraction for thousands of
tourists and others interested in what makes these old machines
tick.
With
more than 200 supporting members in the state-many of whom are
volunteering on the restoration work-they plan to open the new center by
spring. The site includes ways to help their efforts and a slide
show of the old buildings, most built around the turn of the last century,
that will soon be transformed into a showcase of these historic, electronic
marvels.
The Antiquarian & Landmarks Society
of Connecticut-a statewide preservation organization that maintain 13
historic properties, 9 of which are open to the public. Most of the
buildings have their original contests from centuries past. Their
web page has photographs of the properties, their locations, times for
visiting and other information about preservation in the state.
The story is that when Abraham Lincoln was
introduced to Harriet Beecher Stowe he said it was his pleasure to meet
the lady who started the Civil War. Since June 2000 the Harriet Beecher Stowe
Center has commemorated 150 years since the publication of Uncle
Tom's Cabin, the book that moved the nation and to which Lincoln was
referring. They continue to work on issue of equality and
freedom.
The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art,
Ridgefield
The
Barnum Museum in Bridgeport offers a fascinating
exploration of the life and times of the great showman.
Bruce
Museum of Arts and Science is a fine, small museum in
Greenwich, just off I-95.
The Connecticut
Electric Railway Association
The Knights of Columbus, founded in New
Haven in 1882, open their museum
in the city in February 2000, recounting the history of the
organization.
Connecticut
Impressionist Art Trail
Connecticut
River Museum, Essex is a fine, small museum with a wonderful view
of the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.
The
Connecticut State Museum of Natural History at the University
of Connecticut
The
Davison Art Center is in Middletown,
Connecticut at
Wesleyan University. The collection chiefly consists of works on
paper
Discovery
Museum
and
Planetarium Bridgeport,
CT
The
Eli Whitney Museum
Florence
Griswold Museum is a grand gem just off I-95 in Old Lyme.
The New
Britain Museum of American Art is a real treasure in the aging but
still vital Connecticut City. The museum, like the rest of the city,
is very close of all major highways in the area.
Gunn
Memorial Library & Museum
Hill-Stead
Museum
Institute
for American Indian Studies,
Washington
The
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center
The
world's largest and most comprehensive Native American museum and research
center offers an array of engaging experiences for young and old, from life-size
walk-through dioramas that transport visitors into the past, to changing
exhibits and live performances of contemporary arts and cultures. Four full
acres of permanents exhibits depict 18,000 years of Native and natural history
in thoroughly researched detail, while two libraries, including one for
children, offer a diverse selection of materials on the histories and cultures
of all Native peoples of the United States and Canada.
Lyman
Allyn Art Museum
at Connecticut College in New London
Mattatuck
Museum located
on the Green in downtown Waterbury, is a
treasure house of collections focusing on over three centuries of the heritage
of the region and the master artists of Connecticut. The museum houses a
300-seat performing arts center, an art studio classroom, and a research
library. An acclaimed cafe, coffee bar, and store offer services to visitors
year round.
The
Thomas Griswold House Museum, Guilford
Hyland
House,
Guilford, An active museum of colonial life and architecture
The
Dudley Farm
in Guilford is an education and recreational facility, designed to teach
about life in the past with hands-on instruction.
The
Henry Whitfield State Museum in Guilford, was built in 1639 making
it the oldest house in Connecticut.
The
Guilford Keeping Society
collects preserves and shares heritage of Guilford, CT.
Nautilus
Museum
is just off I-95 in Groton, CT. Admission is free, although they do
take donations. A renovation has made this great place even more
interesting. Explore naval history and crawl in and around the submarine
itself.
New
Britain Museum of American Art
New
England Air Museum at Bradley International Airport
New
England Civil War Museum & Library
The
Noah Webster House Museum, West Hartford
The Railroad Museum of New England and the Naugatuck Railroad,
Thomaston
Shore
Line Trolley Museum
Somers
Mountain Museum of Natural History and Primitive Technology
Stepping
Stones Museum for Children
Wadsworth
Atheneum Hartford
Yale
Center for British Art, New Haven
Yale
University Art Gallery,
New Haven
Military
Museum of Southern New England, was founded in 1985 in
Danbury. It has expanded the collection, now with over over
10,000 artifacts, from the history of Tank Destroyer and the 643rd
TD Battalion, to general military history of this and the last
century.
Maine
Margaret
Chase Smith Library and Museum Skowhegan,
Maine. The museum
collection includes gifts and awards given to Margaret Chase Smith, as
well as souvenirs and mementos collected by her. Supplemented with
selections from the archival collection of photographs and documents, are
displayed in a permanent timeline exhibit that illustrates Senator Smith's
life from 1897 to 1995. Open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m.
The
Maine Arts Commission
Maine State Museum
in Augusta is four floors of Maine
history stretching from the Ice Age, more than 12,000 ago to the Maine of
just a while ago. Open seven days a week with free admission, the
museum's permanent exhibits include; "Made in Maine"
with a three-level,
operating, water-powered mill and authentic colonial and
19th century homes, shops, mills, and factories; "This Land Called Maine"
shows off the state's variety of wildlife and their habitats, complete with live trout in a cold, running
stream and throughout the museum are more contemporary artifacts from
Maine's people who farmed, built ships, harvested timber or plied the
waters for lobsters and fish. They have one of the world's
oldest American steam locomotives and a examples of furniture, glass,
ceramics and other things made by Maine's craftspeople. The site
has directions to the museum, information of tours and updates on events
and new exhibits. The Museum is air conditioned and
wheelchair accessible.
The New
England Museum of Telephony, Ellsworth, Maine recounts the history of
the telephone and its social significance from 1876 to 1983, when
the nation's "big" phone company became a number of smaller,
big companies. The museum has displays of phones and equipment that show
the ingenuity used to make the phone ring. Open from July to
September on Wednesdays and Sundays, they are holding the 5th Annual
Telephone Fair on August 11.
Maine Discovery
Museum is as they say "an amusement park for your brain."
Maine State Museum
in Augusta is four floors of Maine
history stretching from the Ice Age, more than 12,000 ago to the Maine of
just a while ago. Open seven days a week with free admission, the
museum's permanent exhibits include; "Made in Maine"
with a three-level,
operating, water-powered mill and authentic colonial and
19th century homes, shops, mills, and factories; "This Land Called Maine"
shows off the state's variety of wildlife and their habitats, complete with live trout in a cold, running
stream and throughout the museum are more contemporary artifacts from
Maine's people who farmed, built ships, harvested timber or plied the
waters for lobsters and fish. They have one of the world's
oldest American steam locomotives and a examples of furniture, glass,
ceramics and other things made by Maine's craftspeople. The site
has directions to the museum, information of tours and updates on events
and new exhibits. The Museum is air conditioned and
wheelchair accessible.
Maine
Art Museums Links to University of Maine, Portland Museum of Art,
Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Farnsworth
Art Museum, Colby Museum of Art, Bowdoin College Museum of Art and
Bates College Museum of Art
Portland Museum
of Art
Owls Head Transportation
Museum Owls Head is just a fun place. The have a full schedule
of events for the year. Visit the site for Special
Events
The
Davistown Museum
Farnsworth Art
Museum
in Rockland, Maine
offers a nationally recognized collection of
American art in its elegantly appointed galleries. Such great names in
18th- and 19th-century American art history as Gilbert Stuart, Thomas
Sully, Thomas Eakins, Eastman Johnson, Fitz Hugh Lane, Frank Benson,
Childe Hassam, and Maurice Prendergast are represented in the museum's
permanent collection entitled Maine in America. The
museum also houses the nation's second-largest collection of works by
premier 20th-century sculptor Louise Nevelson and has opened four new
galleries to showcase contemporary art. Its Wyeth Center exclusively
features works of Andrew, N.C. and Jamie Wyeth--America's first family of
art.
The John
Hampden Society, Hampden
The
Pejepscot Historical Society in Brunswick with information on: The
Pejepscot Museum, The Skolfield-Whittier House Museum, The Joshua L.
Chamberlain Museum
Thames Science
Center, Newport
The Ruggles
House, Columbia Falls
Massachusetts
The Mount Holyoke College Art
Museum was founded in 1876 in
South Hadley, Massachusetts
and is one of the oldest
teaching museums in the country. The museum
has recently been renovated and expanded to house and
display its permanent collection with a primary emphasis on Asian art, 19th- and 20th-century European and American
paintings and sculpture, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art, Medieval
sculpture, early Italian Renaissance paintings, and a collection of
prints, drawings, and photographs. The site
includes thumbnail photographs, news on current
exhibitions, directions and links to associated art and
museum sites.
Admission
is free to the Commonwealth
Museum in Boston and they are open year round, six days a
week. A learning center in the truest sense, the museum has
extensive programs for students and importantly, for teachers and
educators. It sponsors lectures, workshops and special events geared
to understanding Massachusetts's past and present. Not content to
have visitors come to it, the museum also presents regulars exhibitions on
historical subjects, some of which may be loaned to schools in the
Commonwealth for classroom presentations. It will even provide costumed
"interpreters" for elementary and middle schools.
The
museum is operated by the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
from which this site is linked.
Part of New England's charm is the care
that is taken to preserve small aspects of our history that could easily
be forgotten with the passage of time. A case in point is The
Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, in Shelburne
Falls, Massachusetts. The center piece of the
museum's collection is a Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway
combination passenger-baggage car number 10 that is finely preserved,
displayed and can even be taken for short trips in the freight
yard. They have other pieces of ancient rolling stock as well
as photographs, movies, and a gift shop. Open on weekends and
holidays from May to November (and by chance), admission is free to the
grounds and the fifteen minute trolley ride is $2.00. The
museum is staffed and maintained entirely by volunteers.
The Sports Museum of New England
is in the Fleet Center of Boston. They use
examples of historic athletic competitions to encourage the old fashioned
values of leadership, team spirit and cooperation among today's
youth. A non profit, the site features a tour of great moments-and
the people who make them great-in New England's athletic past.
Springfield
Library & Museums Association
represents four fine cultural centers in the region. The
site includes upcoming events, directions and membership
information. For specific information of each museum they offer
links to each center as we do here.
New
England Quilt Museum,
Lowell
The Amos Blanchard House and
Barn Museum in downtown Andover,
Massachusetts, recreates the life and times of a typical
middle-class family of the early 19th century. Educational programs
and changing exhibits explore many aspects of Andover's fascinating 350
year history. The
Andover Historical Society, founded in 1911, maintains the museum
and operates a library, archives and research center where objects and
documents of local historical significance are collected, preserved,
exhibited and interpreted.
The Andover
Historical Society, founded in 1911, maintains a museum and research
center
The
Bostonian Society and Museum, Old State House
The Salem
Witch Museum
The Museum
of Transportation, Brookline
The Public
Health Museum in Massachusetts, Tewksbury
Alden Homestead Museum
The Arnold
Arboretum, Jamaica Plain (Boston)
The
Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield
Blackstone River
Valley
National Heritage
Corridor
Boylston
Historical Society
CAPE
ANN HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Cape Cod
Museum of Natural History, Brewster
The Charles River Museum of
Industry in Waltham,
Massachusetts,
along Route 128, an area that has historically fostered many innovations
and is today one of the premier high-technology centers in the country.
The mission of the Charles River Museum of Industry is to be the leading
center for exploration of the history of industry and technology and a
place to study the dynamic process of innovation in order to encourage and
inspire future innovation in America.
The Children's
Museum, Boston
Boston Museum of
Science
Chessterwood Museum,
Daniel French Sculptor, Stockbridge
Children's
Museum of Dartmouth
Historic
Deerfield is a museum of New England history and art within the
carefully preserved 330 year old western Massachusetts village of Deerfield.
On the grounds is a collection of
18th and 19th century houses and the Flynt Center of Early New England
Life filled with some of the great decorative arts treasures of early
America.
Holyoke
Heritage State Park
Sterling and
Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Concord,
Massachusetts is a community rich in historical association,
renowned as the site of the battle that began the American Revolution and
as the home of the most original thinkers and writers of the American
literary renaissance. The
Concord Museum is the one place where all of Concord's remarkable
past is brought to life -- Algonkians, Puritans, Revolutionaries,
Loyalists, Farmers, Silversmiths, Transcendentalists, Cabinetmakers,
Anti-Slavery Activists, Mill-Workers
Connecticut
Valley Historical Museum, Springfield
Crane
Museum, Dalton
Danforth
Museum of Art, Framingham
Davis
Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College
DeCordova Museum and
Sculpture Park
Lincoln, MA
The DeCordova Museum and
Sculpture Park is located on the former estate of Julian de Cordova
(1850-1945). in
1982, DeCordova initiated a series of curatorial programs to further
strengthen its commitment to New England contemporary artists. The
DeCordova Annual Exhibition (formerly titled Artist/Visions)
series features works by up and coming new artists and provides an annual
snapshot of regional talent.
The
Discovery Museums, Acton
Essex
Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum
The
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Hammond Castle,
Gloucester
Hancock Shaker Village,
in Pittsfield presents
and interprets the lives of the Shakers who lived in the region from 1783
to 1960.
Harvard
University Art Museums
The Arthur M. Sackler Museum
houses the collections of Ancient, Asian, Islamic, and Later Indian art.
Among its particular treasures are the world's finest collection of
Chinese jades, Korean ceramics, and Chinese cave temple painting and
sculpture; a significant collection of Japanese woodblock prints; one of
America's most important collection of Chinese bronzes; Greek and Roman
sculpture and vases, and ancient coins.
The Busch-Reisinger Museum is the
only museum in America devoted to promoting the informed enjoyment and
critical understanding of the arts of Central and Northern Europe, with a
special emphasis on the German-speaking countries
The Fogg Art Museum, which opened
to the public in 1895, is Harvard's oldest art museum. Around its Italian
Renaissance courtyard, based on a sixteenth-century façade in
Montepulciano, Italy, are galleries illustrating the history of Western
art from the Middle Ages to the present, with particular strengths in
Italian early Renaissance, British pre-Raphaelite, and nineteenth-century
French art.
Heritage
Plantation Americana Museums &Gardens, Sandwich
Higgins Armory Museum
Worcester
The
Hull Lifesaving Museum Hull, Boston Harbor,
Lizzie Borden Bed
and Breakfast/ Museum, Fall River
Longyear
Museum exhibits and resources about the life and achievements of Mary
Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and her early
students. The Museum moved into its new building in Chestnut
Hill, MA in 1999
Martha's
Vineyard Museums
Massachusetts Museum
of Contemporary Art MASSMOCA, North
Adams. A wonderful, new
place with a varied and frequently changed exhibits in a grand, old
factory setting.
The Massachusetts
Historical Society, Boston
Massachusetts
State House is where they made, and make, laws and history.
Mead Art Museum,
Amherst College, Amherst
houses the art collections of Amherst College, nearly 14,000 works that
have been acquired since 1839.
MIT Museum houses several permanent
collections of art, artifacts, drawings, photographs, and holograms
including the Science and Technology Collection, the Hart Nautical
Collection, and the Holography Collection, the world's largest
American
Textile History Museum, Dutton
The
Marine Museum at Fall River has over 150 scale models, 30,000
photographs, and many unique marine related items.
Memorial
Hall Museum, Deerfield
Museum of Bad Art,
Boston. They know what they don't like.
Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston
Edith Wharton, author of The Age of
Innocence, Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth and over 40 other
books on architecture, gardens design and travel she was the first women
to be a awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. A New Englander by marriage
and temperament, she used her remarkable architectural skills to design
and build The Mount, Estate and
Gardens in 1902 in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Open from May to October 31, The Mount celebrated a centennial in 2002
after extensive restorations and is home to a summer lecture series
featuring leaders and innovators in the arts.
Natick
Historical Society
The
Needham Children's Museum
New
Bedford Art Museum
New
Bedford Whaling Museum is the world's foremost museum
devoted to the historic interaction of humans with whales worldwide. The
Museum explores the history of whaling worldwide and the rich cultures –
and conservation issues – it inspired.
,
Boston
According
to The Nantucket Historical Association,
the island is home to the nation's largest concentration of
eighteenth-century buildings and the Association oversees many of them.
It also runs museums and historic sites on the island, providing examples
of how people lived on Nantucket for more than three centuries. The
island has evolved, like much of New England, from principle interests in
farming-they still have large cranberry bogs-and whaling to more resort
and residential interests. A short ferry from Cape Cod's
shore, the Association has events and programs throughout the year.
The New
England Pirate Museum, Salem
The Norman Rockwell Museum,
Stockbridge
Historic
Northampton is a museum of
local history in the heart of the Connecticut River Valley. Its
collection of approximately 50,000 objects and three historic buildings is
the repository of Northampton and Connecticut
Valley history from the Pre-Contact era to the present.
Orchard
House in Concord, Massachusetts
is a historic house and museum owned and operated by the Louisa May Alcott
Memorial Association. The Louisa May Alcott Memorial Association is a
private, not-for-profit corporation, founded in 1911. The Association
provides the financial and human resources required to conduct public
tours, special programs, exhibits and the curatorial work which continue
the tradition of the Alcotts, a unique Nineteenth Century family.
Peabody Essex Museum,
Salem
Pilgrim
Hall Museum,
Plymouth They didn't
land on a rock in 1620 but they did write the Mayflower Compact and
this is a great resource to learn the whole story.
Pilgrim
Monument & Provincetown Museum
Plimoth Plantation
(yes, that is the way it is spelled) in
Plymouth,
Massachusetts is a
wonderful online experience and when the center is open from April to
November. Much more than a museum, the Plantation includes a 1627 Pilgrim Village, Hobbbamock's (Wampanoag Indian) Homesite,
a center for traditional crafts, the Mayflower II, shops
and a library. Supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the
Humanities, among many others, the site offers a wealth of well presented
views of the our early past, including the results of its work in colonial and Native archaeology.
The
Popular Music Hall of Fame & Museum is something new
in Springfield, Massachusetts
What
do Frank Sinatra, Arthur Fiedler, Irving Berlin, Barbra Streisand,
Bing Crosby, Jimmy Webb, Kate Smith, Dick Clark, Andrew Lloyd
Webber, Pattie Page, Mel Torme, Rosemary Clooney, Peter Paul &
Mary and Johnny Cash have in common? Each represents the
best in Popular Music that The Popular Music Hall of Fame &
Museum, headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts plans on
honoring. The non profit organization, formally established
in January 2001, has been years in the making and is currently
looking for a permanent home to house its popular music artifacts
and displays.
The
Worcester Art Museum houses more than 35,000 works of art
ranging from ancient times to to late 20th century. Of
particular interest among its 35 galleries is the extensive Asian
collection that includes textiles, prints, ceramics, sculptures and
paintings representing the major periods of Persian, Chinese, Indian
and Japanese art. Open Wednesday-Sunday, admission
is free for children under 17 and for all
on Saturday mornings.
New
Hampshire
Canterbury Shaker Village, Canterbury
Pierce
Manse, home of Franklin Pierce, the 14th President
American
Independence Museum
Children's
Museum of Portsmouth
The Currier Gallery of
Art
in Manchester, has always had an interesting
Internet site and an ambitious schedule of exhibits. Recently the
Gallery received a cash bequest of $43 million, which should make this
gem sparkle even more brightly.
Museum of
New Hampshire History in Concord
Saint-Gaudens National
Historic Site, Cornish
Strawbery
Banke Museum, Portsmouth
New England Ski
Museum, Franconia Notch, ski history
Rhode
Island
The
Newport Art Museum has a permanent collection with a
natural focus on the region's long attachment to and interest in the
visual arts. Spanning more than two centuries, the museum
presents contemporary works that serve as a foreground for its fine
collection of 19th century works by Winslow Homer, Fitz Hugh Lane,
George Inness, John Frederick Kensett, William Trost Richards, and
Julia Overing Boit. Located on
historic Bellevue Avenue, the epicenter of Newport's arts community,
the museum has special exhibitions throughout the year.
Admission for Non-members is $6 for adults with discounts for
seniors, students and children. Interestingly, the museum and
its grounds may be rented for private, special events. The site
includes news on upcoming shows, information on art classes, days
and hours it is open and a complete staff directory.
The
Gilbert Stuart Birthplace in Saunderstown,
Rhode Island is a showplace for reproductions of the
works of one of America’s foremost portrait painters and an
authentically restored and furnished workingman’s home. It
is also the site of the first snuff mill in America. Open
April Through October Closed
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Beavertail
Lighthouse Museum, Jamestown
Museum of Yachting,
Newport
Haffenreffer
Museum of Anthropology at Brown
International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport
Jamestown
Fire Department Memorial Museum, Jamestown
New England
Wireless and Steam Museum, East Greenwich
The Museum of
Natural History & Cormack Planetarium, Providence
The
Photographers' Guild of The Newport Art Museum
Quonset Air
Museum Hangar 488 North Kingstown
The
RI Fishermen & Whale Museum, Newport
The South
County Museum, Narragansett
Vermont
"Modern art created by
accident," is what they say at the Main
Street Museum in Hartford Village,
Vermont. They have a
point. The site is a wonder to explore, like the actual place,
offering no apologies and taking no prisoners. The gift shop
is worthy of Yeats.
Charlotte,
The Vermont Whale An Electronic
Museum from the University of Vermont about some very old
bones.
Southern
Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, is Vermont's oldest cultural
organization.
Billings Farm
& Museum, Woodstock
John
Strong DAR Mansion
Bennington
Battle Monument
The
Bennington Flag
Dating from the early 19th century, an original of the Bennington
Flag, along with the Grandma Moses Gallery and other fine
presentations of American art and history, is on display at The Bennington Museum.
Ethan Allen Homestead , Burlington
Robert Hull
Fleming Museum, Burlington
Brattleboro
Museum and Art Center
Old
Stone House Museum, Brownington
Orleans
County Historical Society, Brownington
Enosburg
Opera House
President
Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site, Fairfield
Black
River Academy, Ludlow
Robert Todd Lincoln's
Hildene, Manchester
Vermont
Folklife Center Middlebury
Vermont Historical
Society and Museum , Montpelier
Montshire Museum of
Science , Norwich
Calvin Coolidge
Memorial Foundation , Plymouth
Richmond
Old Round Church
Shelburne
Museum
St
Albans Historical Society Museum
Fairbanks
Museum and Planetarium St. Johnsbury
Lake Champlain Maritime
Museum
American
Precision Museum
The Williamstown
Historical Society is the only organization devoted to
preserving the history of the entire Williamstown community, with no
funding from the local or state government. The museum
contains, naturally enough, pictures and artifacts of local
history, which the public is invited to view and enjoy. For
museum hours, information or to arrange a special viewing of the
museum, call (802) 433-1283. |
