Museums of Boston
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Boston & nearby environs are well known for the history that has taken place here, and with history comes museums to showcase the events. Whether recreating pivotal moments in time, honoring the native-born heroes or celebrating the positive outcomes, visitors will find it here. But there are also amazing art museums, science & nature centers, renown libraries and more throughout the region that are all worth seeing. A sampling of the Boston area museums are alphabetically listed here, most have their own websites offering further information.
Adams National Historical Park - 135 Adams Street / Quincy / MA 02169 / 617-770-1175
Telling the story of four generations of the Adams family, this park has two main site locations: the Birthplaces of 2nd U.S. President John Adams and 6th U.S. President John Quincy Adams, and a few blocks away, Peacefield including the "Old House" built in 1731 and the 1873 Stone Library which contains more than 14,000 historic volumes. The John Adams and John Quincy Adams Birthplaces are the oldest presidential birthplaces in the United States and the two houses stand only 75 feet apart. The park is comprised of a total of 13 acres, 11 buildings and a collection comprising approximately 100,000 objects including original furnishings, books, archival materials and archeology donated by the family in 1946. This park is under the auspices of the National Park Service.
American Textile History Museum - 491 Dutton Street / Lowell MA 01854 / 978-441-0400
A museum which showcases the history and creation of American textiles from Colonial era homespun fabrics to 20th century astronauts gloves and American baseballs. Located in a renovated historic textile machine factory located on the Western Canal in Lowell, visitors view the tools, machinery and workplace artifacts as well as a huge collection of textiles, period costumes and decorative arts. Options include signing up to participate in hands-on classes, the spinning and weaving of fabrics, felting, quilting and more. / Open Wednesday - Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm / Closed holidays
The Art Complex Museum - 189 Alden Street / Duxbury / MA 02331 / 781-934-6634
The Art Complex Museum is a contemporary structure of glass and wood on over 13 acres of open fields and woodlands and serves as a center for regional arts and for the collections of the Carl A. Weyerhaeuser family. The museum is known for its collection strengths in Shaker furniture, prints, American paintings and Asian art. / Open Wednesday - Sunday, 1 - 4 pm
Battleship Cove - 5 Water Street / Fall River / MA 02722 / 508-678-1100
The world’s largest collection of historic Naval ships is located just one hour southwest of Boston and hosts five National Historic Landmarks: Battleship Massachusetts, Destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Submarine Lionfish, and PT Boats 617 and 796 as well as the Soviet-built Missile Corvette Hiddensee. Battleship Cove is the Official Memorial site for citizens of Massachusetts who lost their lives in WWII as well as the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars and the September 11 terrorist attacks. / Open daily
Boston Children's Museum - 300 Congress Street / Boston / MA 02210 / 617-426-6500
Boston Children’s Museum is a place for children and adults in their lives to experience the fun of learning. There are exciting exhibits and activities for every child, from the aspiring artists and actors to the budding engineers and scientists. Museum visitors can scamper up the three-story climb, play on the light-up dance floor, and create their own artwork. The Museum also holds special events throughout the year that focus on different cultures, environment, science, and other topics. This is an early museum experience for children which encourages imagination, curiosity, questioning and realism. / Open daily 10 am – 5 pm / Fridays until 9 pm
The Commonwealth Museum - 220 Morrissey Boulevard / Boston / MA 02125 / 617-727-9268
Recently renovated, The Commonwealth Museum is the state museum of Massachusetts, covering its history and its people, is uses state of the art technology to trace the development of rights in Massachusetts from the 1600s until today. Climate controlled cases display the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, "John Adams" Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, and unique royal charters. Collections and cultural resources, dynamic exhibits and educational experiences have been created to impart Massachusetts’ unique and exciting history. The museum is conveniently located directly across the street from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum on Boston's Columbia Point. / Monday - Friday, 9 am to 5 pm / Closed on major holidays
Concord Museum - 200 Lexington Road / Concord / MA 01742 / 978-369-9609
A small place with such big history, Concord has a lot to share with its history galleries, collected literary and decorative arts treasures. From a 1775 Revere lantern, to artifacts owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, there is a lot of history and literary talent that got its start in this area. The museum collection numbers over 35,000 objects spanning the history of Concord from Native American settlements to the present. Which makes it imperative when one sets out to explore historic Concord, they should begin at this Museum. / Monday – Saturday 9 am - 5 pm / Sunday 12 Noon - 5 pm / extended Sunday hours June - August / Limited hours January - March
Danforth Museum of Art - 123 Union Avenue / Framingham / MA 01702 / 508-620-0050
With its focus on American Art from the 18th century to present day, the Danforth Museum of Art is dedicated to showing the very best examples of contemporary art by both emerging and established artists, as well as an exploration of the School of Boston Expressionism. With compelling exhibitions and permanent collection of over 3,500 works of art offer countless opportunities for all ages to explore a range of media and artistic forms of expression from the traditional to installation and new media.
Davis Museum & Cultural Center - 106 Central Street / Wellesley / MA 02481 / 781-283-2051
On the campus of Wellesley College, the Davis Museum presents provocative and nationally recognized exhibitions as well as educational programs. The museum building was designed by Rafael Moneo and contains more than 7,000 objects that span the history of art. The collection includes pre-conquest Mesoamerican objects, Asian ceramics, African objects, Renaissance and Baroque paintings and sculpture, early modernist works, vintage and contemporary photographs, contemporary paintings and sculpture, and works on paper.
Dedham Historical Society Museum - 612 High Street / Dedham / MA 02027 / 781-326-1385
The museum houses a premier collection of Chelsea and Dedham Pottery, important fine and decorative arts, the oldest dated piece of American-made furniture, small important collection 16th -19th century furniture, paintings by Alvan Fisher, Gilbert Stuart, John Constable, Frothingham, Hale, Hewins, and Wagner; an extensive collection of Katharine Pratt silver, a number of Colonial clocks, including one of only two Simon Willard astronomical shelf clocks with the face by Paul Revere, and changing exhibits.
Discovery Museums - 177 Main Street (Route 27) / Acton / MA
01720
/ 978-264-4200
Make exciting discoveries through hands-on exploration in these two age-appropriate museums that make up their three-acre suburban campus. Younger children can explore the wonders of creative play in an intimate setting. Kids can operate a train, experiment at the water table, climb the rainbow slide or serve play food in the 50’s style diner. Older children experience everyday science with open-ended interactive exhibits including a giant Newton’s Cradle, an Anti-Gravity mirror, the Sea of Clouds, the Frozen Shadow room and the Mist Tornado. The museums are located approximately 20 miles west of Boston.
Fuller Craft Museum - 455 Oak Street / Brockton / MA 02301 / 508-588-6000
New England’s home for contemporary craft, is dedicated to the objects, ideas, and insight that inspire both patrons and artists to explore life through the art of contemporary craft. They offer a collection, exhibitions, demonstrations, workshops, and special events where you can literally touch the materials and objects.
Garden in the Woods—New England Flower Society - 180 Hemenway Road / Framingham / MA 01701 / 508-877-7630
Garden-in-the-Woods is an ever-changing living museum as well as New England’s premier wildflower garden with more than 1,000 native plant species. Many rare & endangered native specimens are located throughout the gardens. Open seasonally
Harvard Art Museum - (Fogg Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum) 485 Broadway / 32 Quincy Street / Cambridge / MA 02138 / 617-495-9400
Explore the visual arts of many world cultures across millennia through the Art Museum’s exceptional collection of more than 250,000 objects. Comprised of three museums and four research centers, Harvard Art Museum is one of the world’s leading arts institutions and is distinguished by the range and depth of its collections. The Quincy Street location, home of the Fogg and Busch-Reisinger Museums is closed for renovations, all three museums have their collections installed in the the Sackler Museum at 485 Broadway. When complete, the renovated historic building on Quincy Street will house the three museums in a single, state-of-the-art facility.
Harvard Museum of Natural History - 26 Oxford Street / Cambridge, MA 02138 / 617-495-3045
The University’s most visited museum with over 12,000 specimens from dinosaur bones to meteorites and gemstones as well as hundreds of animals from around the globe. The collection includes the world’s only mounted Kronosaurus, a 42 foot-long marine reptile; one of the first Triceratops ever discovered; a 1,642 pound amethyst geode; 3 whale skeletons and the world famous exhibit of 3,000 "Glass Flowers".
Historic New England - 141 Cambridge Street / Boston / MA 02114 / 617- 227-3956
Historic New England is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional preservation organization in the country. It invites you to visit its thirty-five house museums and landscapes spanning four centuries of architectural styles in five states. Their offerings include house and landscape tours, adult and family programs, special events, traveling exhibitions, and museum shops.
Historic Newton - Jackson Homestead and Museum - 527 Washington Street / Newton / MA 02458 / 617-796-1450
Historic Newton encompasses The Jackson Homestead and Museum, the Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds, Historic Burying Grounds Preservation, and the Newton Historical Society. The 1809 Jackson Homestead and Museum is a nationally-accredited museum and documented station on the Underground Railroad, with a collection of photographs, paintings, maps, manuscripts, and building histories. The museum offers programs, holiday events and has many hands on activities for children.
Hull Lifesaving Museum - 1117 Nantasket Avenue / Hull / MA 02045 / 781-925-5433
A 19th Century U.S. Life Saving Station facing Boston Harbor Light, the Hull Lifesaving Station featuring exhibits on shipwrecks, lifesaving, lighthouses and Boston Harbor. They also have year-round boat building and offer open-water rowing programs.
Institute of Contemporary Art - 100 Northern Avenue / Boston / MA 02210 / 617-478-3100
Boston’s first new museum in over 100 years, the Institute of Contemporary Art is the city’s destination for outstanding contemporary art exhibitions, film, music, theater, dance and more. Architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro designed the award-winning ICA building both "from the sky down" and "from the ground up" on Boston’s waterfront, inviting visitors to share in the excitement of new art and ideas. The design weaves together interior and exterior space, producing shifting perspectives of the waterfront throughout the museum’s galleries and public spaces.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - 280 The Fenway / Boston / MA 02115 / 617-278-5166
Isabella Stewart Gardner first welcomed visitors to her museum on New Year’s Day, 1903 and the museum has remained essentially unchanged since its founder’s death in 1924. Modeled after a 15th-century Venetian palazzo surrounding an interior courtyard garden, the galleries house one of the most remarkable art collections in the world, including works by Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael, Botticelli, Degas, and Sargent. Special contemporary and historic exhibitions, America’s oldest museum music program, and an artist-in-residence program enrich the permanent collection. In celebration of the museum’s founder, all named "Isabella" are admitted free.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum - Columbia Point / Boston, MA 02125 / 866-535-1960
The Library and Museum are dedicated to the memory of our nation’s thirty-fifth president and to all those who, through the art of politics seek a new and better world. The Museum portrays the life, leadership, and legacy of President Kennedy, conveys his enthusiasm for politics and public service, and illustrates the nature of the office of the President. The Library can arrange for students and scholars research using the collection of historical materials chronicling mid-20th century politics and the life and administration of John F. Kennedy. This is one of 13 Presidential Libraries in the country.
Longyear Museum - 1125 Boylston Street / Chestnut Hill / MA 02467 / 617-278-9000
Longyear Museum is an independent historical museum dedicated to advancing the understanding of the life and work of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer, Founder, and Leader of Christian Science.
Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House - 399 Lexington Road / Concord / MA 01742 / 978-369-4118
Orchard House is the home depicted in the book "Little Women", it was in actuality the house Louisa May Alcott where she wrote her famous "childrens" novel. Little has changed in the house since the time the Alcotts lived there and it is shown with many of the original furnishings and personal effects that belonged to the family.
Mary Baker Eddy Library - 200 Massachusetts Avenue / Boston 02115 / 617-450-7000
The Mary Baker Eddy Library, as one might expect pays homage to Mary Baker Eddy, a New England woman who defied conventional nineteenth-century thinking to become an influential religious leader, publisher, teacher, and businesswoman. The library also houses the famous Mapparium®, the Hall of Ideas & more as well as a research and archive library.
MIT Museum - 265 Massachusetts Avenue / Cambridge / MA 02139 / 617-253-5927
The museum invites guests to explore invention, ideas, and innovation. Through interactive exhibitions, public programs, experimental projects and its renown collections, the MIT Museum showcases the fascinating world of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and inspires people of all ages about the possibilities and opportunities offered by science and technology.
Museum of Afro American History - 46 Joy Street / Boston / MA 02114 / 617-725-0022
The African Meeting House and Abiel Smith School on Beacon Hill, both built in the early 1800’s, are two of the Museum of African American History’s most valuable assets. Located in what once was the heart of Boston’s 19th-century African American community, these buildings remain a showcase of black community organization and enduring testimony to black craftsmanship and are the core of the Boston campus of the museum. The African Meeting House is the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. Home of the Museum’s exhibit galleries and Museum Store, the Abiel Smith School was the first publicly funded schoolhouse in the country for African-American children (1835). The school is one of the final stops on the Black Heritage Trail®.
Another Afro American History Museum campus is located at 27 & 29 York Street at the African Meeting House & Florence Higginbotham House on the island of Nantucket, for information call 508-228-9833.
Museum of Fine Arts - Avenue of the Arts / 465 Huntington Avenue / Boston / MA 02115 / 617-267-9300
Recognized for the quality and scope of its huge collection, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston includes some of the most rare and important artistic treasures in the world. With over 450,000 objects, one will find breathtaking works of art, from Renaissance masters to a world-renowned collection of American art, as well as to the icons of Impressionism and Contemporary art. Also a renown collection of Asian art which covers the creative achievement of more than half the world’s population since 4,000 BC. and art of the ancient world from Egypt to Greece and Rome.
Museum of Science - 1 Science Park / Boston / MA 02114 / 617-723-2500
A Science Museum for all ages, this venue explores all aspects of science, from to botany, biology, DNA, chemistry and life science to geology, astronomy, physics, energy, space exploration, engineering, computers and more! A great stop for the family, they have an IMAX theater, exhibits of dinosaur fossils, live animals, butterfly garden, Discovery Center, interactive hand-on activities, live presentations, lectures and courses.
National Heritage Museum - 33 Marrett Road / Lexington / MA 02421 / 781-861-6559
This museum boasts one of the country’s finest collections of material and artifacts related to the history of American Freemasonry and fraternalism. They also display decorative arts, documents, artifacts, photographs and fine art related to all kinds of American history, with particular attention paid to material related to Lexington around the time of the American Revolution.
New England Aquarium - 1 Central Wharf / Boston / MA 02110 / 617-973-5200
Dive into the world of water without getting wet at the New England Aquarium. Explore vibrant coral reefs, from the Bahamas and the tropical Pacific to temperate Australia. Get a safe close-up of the lionfish and the stonefish, some of the most poisonous fishes in the sea. Discover how the Aquarium collects these specimens. Over 70 exhibits feature a variety of aquatic creatures in naturalistic habitats. Meet playful penguins, touch tide pool dwellers, watch divers feed sharks, and don’t forget to say hello to Myrtle, the green sea turtle.
Nichols House Museum - 55 Mount Vernon Street / Boston / MA 02108 / 617-227-6993
An impressive four-story town house Nichols House was constructed in 1804 as one of four row houses, and is one of the earliest structures on Beacon Hill. The original Federal design is attributed to Charles Bulfinch who designed the Massachusetts State House. The Nichols House Museum is open to the public as an historic house museum reflecting the domestic life of a typical family of Beacon Hill at the turn of the 19th to 20th century.
The Old Manse - 269 Monument Street / Concord / MA 01742 / 978-369-3909
The Old Manse has stood upon this site since 1770 and within it's first decade was witness to the "the shot heard 'round the world." From upstairs, one can look out over the North Bridge, where the famous battle of April 19, 1775, took place. The house would inspire inhabitants Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne who resided here in the 1800s, in the mid-19th-century. Leading Transcendentalists such as Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller discussed the issues of the day here, with the Hawthorne and Ripley families. The Old Manse a National Historic Landmark, and is a property of The Trustees of Reservations.
Peabody Essex Museum - 161 Essex Street / Salem / MA 01970 / 978-745-9500
The beginnings of the Peabody Essex Museum date to the founding of the East India Marine Society in 1799, an organization of Salem captains who had sailed beyond either the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. The society’s charter also called for the establishment of a "cabinet of natural and artificial curiosities" which has become today, the stunning Peabody Essex Museum. They brought to Salem a diverse collection of objects from the northwest coast of America, Asia, Africa, Oceania, India and elsewhere. See special exhibitions, visit their interactive center for families and tour historic houses in the region, all part of the Peabody Essex Museum.
Plimoth Plantation - 137 Warren Avenue / Plymouth / MA 02360 / 508-746-1622
A recreations of the village of Plimoth Plantation from the 1627, seven years after the landing of the Mayflower, a full scale model of the Mayflower and a Wampanoag Homesite, showing how all the players in this great American saga lived in the early 17th century. The Mayflower II recreation is turning 50 this year, built after WWII as a symbol of unity with Great Britain, re-enactors will recreate life aboard the ship. New Plimouth village also uses re-enactors, telling of the tragedies and triumphs of those early years of American colonization.
Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History - 235 Wellesley Street at Regis College / Weston / MA 02493 / 781-768-8367
Brought together in 1960 by the collections of Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York and the National Philatelic Museum in Philadelphia, this is one of two Postal Museums in the country. The collection include over 2 million pieces including items from President Dwight David Eisenhower, violinist Jascha Heifetz, and General Matthew Ridgway.
Sports Museum - TD Banknorth Center - Causeway Street / Boston / MA / 617-624-1234
Located in the TD Garden Arena, the Sports Museum features a half mile of exhibits celebrating the legends and legendary moments of Boston sports. Exhibits include the Beanpot Trophy vied for by local college hockey teams, The Boston Garden Penalty Box, Larry Bird’s and Ted Williams’ Lockers, Nancy Kerrigan, 2007 World Series Champions and so much more!
Stonehurst, The Robert Treat Paine Estate - 100 Robert Treat Paine Drive / Waltham / MA 02452 / 781-314-3290
Stonehurst was the 19th-century country home of housing reformer Robert Treat Paine who believed every American had a right to an abundance of healthy, clean air and a spiritually uplifting and restorative environment. The house is a creation of renowned American designers, architect Henry Hobson Richardson and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, two pioneering figures in American architectural and landscape design history. Stonehurst offers a wide range of guided tours, lectures and programs or visitors may stroll the grounds or hike the woodland trails that wind through 109 acres of surrounding conservation land.
Trinity Church in the City of Boston - 206 Clarendon Street / Boston / MA 02116 / 617-536.0944
Trinity Church is a masterpiece of American architecture. Dedicated in 1877, Trinity presented a bold, fresh new face and feeling for ecclesiastical architecture in America. The Church continues to be heralded today as a celebrated example of "Richardsonian Romanesque" design, named after its architect, H. H. Richardson. The church has appeared on the architectural community's "top ten" lists of significant buildings for over 100 years.
Zoo New England: Franklin Park Zoo - One Franklin Park Road / Boston / MA 02121 / 617-541-5466
Franklin Park Zoo is a 72-acre site nestled in Boston’s historic Franklin Park, long considered the "crown jewel" of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace Park System. The Zoo was founded in 1913 and was managed by the City of Boston until 1958. Now run by Zoo New England, the zoo houses all kinds of animals, from lions to lemurs, zebras, giraffes, gorillas, emus, wallabies and kangaroos, just to name a few.
Zoo New England: Stone Zoo - 149 Pond Street / Stoneham / MA 02180 / 781-438-5100
Formerly known as the Middlesex Fells Zoo, the Zoo New England: Stone Zoo is located on a 26-acre site near the sparkling Spot Pond reservoir in Stoneham, MA. Now run by Zoo New England, the zoo houses all kinds of animals, from Colobus monkeys and Canadian lynx to snow leopards, Mexican gray wolves, flamingos, arctic fox, spider monkeys, capybaras, and many other interesting and fascinating animals from around the world.
Boston Museums
Adams National Historical Park - http://www.nps.gov/adam/index.htm
American Textile History Museum / http://www.athm.org/
The Art Complex Museum / http://www.artcomplex.org/
Battleship Cove / http://www.battleshipcove.org/
Boston Children's Museum / http://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/
The Commonwealth Museum / http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mus/museum/index.htm
Concord Museum / http://www.concordmuseum.org/
Danforth Museum of Art / http://www.danforthmuseum.org/
Davis Museum & Cultural Center / http://www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu
Dedham Historical Society Museum / http://dedhamhistorical.org/
Discovery Museums - www.discoverymuseums.org
Fuller Craft Museum - http://www.fullercraft.org/
Garden in the Woods - New England Flower Society- / http://www.newfs.org/visit/
Harvard Art Museum - http://www.harvardartmuseum.org/
Harvard Museum of Natural History - http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/
Historic New England - Jackson Homestead and Museum - http://www.historicnewengland.org/
Hull Lifesaving Museum - http://www.lifesavingmuseum.org/
Institute of Contemporary Art - http://www.icaboston.org/
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - http://www.gardnermuseum.org/
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum - http://www.jfklibrary.org/
Longyear Museum - http://www.longyear.org/
Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House - http://www.louisamayalcott.org/
Mary Baker Eddy Library - http://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/
MIT Museum - http://web.mit.edu/museum/
Museum of Afro American History - http://www.afroammuseum.org/
Museum of Fine Arts - http://www.mfa.org/
Museum of Science - http://www.mos.org/
National Heritage Museum - http://www.nationalheritagemuseum.org/
New England Aquarium - http://www.neaq.org/
Nichols House Museum - http://www.nicholshousemuseum.org/
The Old Manse - http://thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/greater-boston/old-manse.html
Peabody Essex Museum - http://www.pem.org/
Plimoth Plantation - http://www.plimoth.org/
Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History - http://www.spellman.org/
- http://www.tdbanknorthgarden.com/sportsmuseum/default.asp
Stonehurst, The Robert Treat Paine Estate - http://www.stonehurstwaltham.org
Trinity Church in the City of Boston - http://www.trinitychurchboston.org/
Zoo New England: Franklin Park Zoo - http://www.zoonewengland.org/Page.aspx?pid=219
Zoo New England: Stone Zoo - http://www.zoonewengland.org/Page.aspx?pid=220
