Whether you’re interested in funeral history or neon signs, there’s a quirky museum out there for you.
Sometimes those big home gallery , with their white marble arcade , can be consuming . The idea of undertake multiple floors of world - class art is both wearying and apparently impossible . The estimable news is , there ’s always a more accessible , quirkier museum standing proudly off the beat path — one you’re able to successfully navigate in a few hours time , with some newfound , unconventional cognition under your belt .
Case in point : the less - troddenInternational Spy Museumin the Smithsonian - overlook city of Washington , D.C. , which hold the largest compendium of espionage artifact on public display . “ There are 18 intelligence agencies in Washington , D.C. alone , but a lot of these collections are secret — we’re not supposed to know about these story ever live , ” says Kathryn Keane , Vice President of Exhibitions & Collections . “ So to hail to the Spy Museum and to be able-bodied to see about the tangible story behind a mountain of this oeuvre through the centuries is really peculiar . ”
Then there are those museum hiding in more unlikely corners of the U.S.—for example , the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan , Alaska , or the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville , Arkansas — that are far more than roadside attractions . In fact , Keane , who has spent over 20 years go across the country to produce exhibitions , finds that small towns often contain some of the best historic sites or houses . “ You do n’t have to go to a big city to know a capital museum , ” she explains . “ The idea that there are over 30,000 museums in the United States is a veridical will to the dedication we have as Americans to preserve our account . ”
The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida features the largest collection of Dalí artworks in the world.|travelview/Shutterstock
With the help of Keane and the stave of theAmerican Alliance of Museums(AAM ) , we put together a lean of 15 underrated museums — in major city and small towns likewise — that most likely are n’t on your radar . They execute the gamut from artifacts of funeral chronicle to the most ornate displays of repurposed computer architecture you ’ll ever see .
American Visionary Art Museum
Baltimore , MarylandThe AAM shout out the American Visionary Art Museum for produce the incrediblekinetic sculpture racesthat rapid climb through Baltimore each yr — that is , the procession of “ human being - power , all - terrain , homemade contraptions that trip over commonwealth , water , Baroness Dudevant and mud , ” the website reads . But if you ’re not in Ithiel Town to see such amphibian chef-d’oeuvre , the museum itself is deserving chit-chat for its impressive collection of art created by self - taught mortal , all propel by some variety of intuitive genius . Think whimsical wooden creature and larger - than - animation carving of drag queen .
The Tenement Museum
New York CityWe know New York City to have been shaped by Rockefellers and Guggenheims , but we ’re less likely to be familiar with the ways in which early immigrant contribute to the fabric of its past . This AAM passport features historically recreate homes of immigrants , migrant , and refugee who take root in the Lower East Side between the geezerhood of 1860 and 1980 . look to discover all variety of artifact concern to the buildings of 97 and 103 Orchard Street , from split documents to intellectual nourishment containers .
National Cryptologic Museum
Washington , D.C.Keane is a big fan of this D.C. institution , place just outside of the National Security Agency campus . Renovated in 2022 , it ’s fundamentally “ further interpretation ” for lovers of the Spy Museum . “ It ’s dedicated to the account of U.S. cryptanalytics , which is essentially code - break , decryption , encryption , communication technology and what we call ‘ signals intelligence activity ’ in our business , ” she says . The museum put up various enigma machines and early electronic computer from famous minute in our code - breaking history , including during the Manhattan Project and Civil War .
Eastern State Penitentiary
Philadelphia , PennsylvaniaThis former prison , suggested by the AAM , was the most expensive public structure in the rural area when it was first erected in 1829 . The nervous site , with its neo - Gothic architecture , was the mankind ’s first rightful “ penitentiary , ” called as such to breathe in penitence with its system of separate labor , a revolutionary conception at the clock time . It held nearly 85,000 prisoners until it close in 1971 ( Al Capone and bank building robber Willie Sutton among them ) . Take a tour during the 24-hour interval , or visit at nighttime for a haunted experience during the calendar month of October .
Dalí Museum
St. Petersburg , FloridaThe famous surrealist mountain lion did n’t incisively have a connection to St. Petersburg , nor did the Morses , who acquired the Brobdingnagian ingathering of Dalí paintings exhibit here . But when the Ohio - found altruist decided to donate their collection in the 1970s , an article with the newspaper headline “ U.S. Art World Dillydallies Over Dalí , ” arrest the attention of the St. Petersburg residential district , which rallied together to bring the collection to Florida . The building , surrealist in design with a geodesic glass bubble and helical staircase , boasts more Dalí works than any other museum in the humanity .
City Museum
St. Louis , MissouriIt ’s concentrated to categorize this St. Louis precious stone , housed in an sometime shoe factory . It ’s part playground , part architectural junkyard . Oh , and there ’s a ferris wheel , too . Founded by sculptors Bob and Gail Cassidy , the City Museum is a mishmash of social organisation that cities have left behind , from an abandon schoolhouse heap to a giant praying mantis carving . You ’ll also discover some Guinness World Record winners , like the World ’s Largest Pencil , Seesaw , and Tennis Racket .
International Museum of Surgical Science
Chicago , IllinoisHoused in a beautiful , lakeshore mansion , the International Museum of Surgical Science boasts 100 of artifact related to the history of surgical procedure , such as , per its website , “ an Austrian amputation saw with reversible brand ( c. 1500 ) ; original ecstasy - rays taken by radiology pioneer Emil Grubbé ( c. 1910 ) ; the Lindbergh perfusion pump , which enabled doctors to keep organs function outside the body , forge by the renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh and Nobel Prize - gain surgeon Alexis Carrel ( 1935 ) ; and a unique solicitation of trephined skull from ancient Peru . ”If you ’re especially squeamish , perhaps avoid the third trading floor give to obstetrics and gynaecology , which features some pretty bloody , albeit beautiful paintings related to childbirth .
The Metal Museum
Greenwood Rising
Tulsa , OklahomaKeane recalls a late , move experience at Greenwood Rising , situate in Tulsa ’s Historic Greenwood District , a neighborhood that experienced one of the big race butchery in U.S. history in 1921 . The museum opened in 2021 , during the 100th anniversary of the devastating case . “ It ’s extremely experiential and emotional , and it ’s an important museum to the people of that community , but it ’s also a new museum that uses what I would describe as the ripe examples of immersive storytelling and new engineering to state a really complex and difficult tarradiddle , ” Keane says .
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Bentonville , ArkansasThe Crystal Bridges Museum is n’t exactly corner in scope — its walls are grace with remarkable names like Norman Rockwell , Georgia O’Keefe , and Jackson Pollack — but there ’s something to be said about the fact that it ’s pucker aside in the humble city of Bentonville , otherwise known as the cradle of Walmart . The supermarket ’s inheritress , Alice Walton , found the museum , and the pavilions , which blend seamlessly with the beleaguer Ozark forest , were designed by Mosh Safdie ( uncle of the Safdie cinema bros ) . check that you check out the Frank Lloyd Wright house situated on the dimension , too . fillip : access is free .
National Museum of Funeral History
Houston , TexasIf you have a particular interest in vintage hearses from around the humankind , then the National Museum of Funeral History is the place for you . It educates visitor on funerary usage in the U.S. and beyond — from the ancient embalming rituals of Egypt to the sacred traditions of Pope burials . There ’s a lot associate to the expiry of presidents as well , including George Washington ’s $ 99.25 funeral bill .
Totem Heritage Center
Ketchikan , AlaskaThis AAM pick , which is part of the Ketchikan Museums , features one of the world ’s largest collection of unrestored , 19th - hundred totem pole , retrieved in the 1970s from the Tlingit villages on Tongass Island and Village Island and from the Haida village of Old Kasaan on Prince of Wales Island . With the help of Native elder , the Alaska State Museum and the Alaska Native Brotherhood play these plant of artistry over to Ketchikan , where they go on to enjoin the history of Northwest Coast Native peoples .
Iolani Palace
Honolulu , HawaiiThe AAM urge the Iolani Palace in Honolulu , the abode of the last reigning monarchs of Hawaii , King Kalākaua and his sister , Queen Liliʻuokalani . In fact , it ’s the only royal castle on U.S. land . Many of the gilded furnishings , which were once sold at auction , have been recovered from 36 states and 4 foreign countries . It ’s still a work in advance , though , as The Friends of the Iolani Palace keep on their search for“most - wanted ” items . On the 2d Sunday of every calendar month — Kamaʻāina Sundays — resident can roam the castle , taste Hawaiian food , bask unrecorded entertainment , and more .
The Neon Museum
Las Vegas , NevadaCome to the Neon Museum to study about the unique account of ad in Vegas . What begin as a dumping ground for retired neon signs is now an actual museum , with over 200 signs scattered throughout the Neon Boneyard . Make certain you cease and stare at the cuticle - form computer architecture of the Visitor ’s Center , which was once the entryway of La Concha Motel , a celebrity hotspot that was designed by trailblazing architect Paul Revere Williams . A peak that might seem obvious , but is deserving mentioning anyway : It ’s much in force to visit after the sun goes down .
Bathe in the Glow of Las Vegas' Past at the Neon Museum
In a city that likes to blow up its history, the museum preserves its most brilliant parts.
Petersen Automotive Museum
Los Angeles , CaliforniaSkip the Broad and go ogle at some tawdry vehicles instead . Keane got to get it on the Petersen Automotive Museum a bit advantageously after get together with them for the Spy Museum ’s late exhibit , Bond in Motion . “ There are a great deal of museums in L.A. and this one would plausibly not be on your top five list , but it ’s definitely deserving the sojourn , ” she says . “ And just last yr , they opened a new experience that they call the ‘ Vault , ’ where you go down to the cellar and there ’s like 250 of the most spectacular cars dating all the manner back to the early 20th century . They ’ve get Porsches and Corvettes and Ferraris from the ‘ 40s and just an amazing extract of unique automobiles . ”
This 15-foot pink poodle goes by the name Fifi.|American Visionary Art Museum
The Eastern State Penitentiary held famous prisoners Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton.|Eastern State Penitentiary
The City Museum lays claim to some Guinness World Record winners, like the World’s Largest Pencil, Seesaw, and Tennis Racket.|City Museum, St Louis, MO
The Metal Museum hosts free demonstrations on weekends.|Metal Museum
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art was designed by Mosh Safdie.|Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Iolani Palace is the only royal palace on U.S. soil.|Photo courtesy of the Friends of ʻIolani Palace
Make sure you pay a visit to The Vault.|Petersen Automotive Museum
