10 History Museums in Massachusetts That You Shouldn't Miss

Historic Plymouth Tours and Educational Programs. Your journey into history begins here. Discover Plymouth's History - a Walking Tour: Hear about the people, places, and events that shaped the beginning of our country as you walk through the historic district of Plymouth. Forefathers Monument Tour - This hidden gem is the largest free standing solid granite monument in our country. The faith of the Pilgrims will become real to you as you learn what each of the five statues represents. Business Not as Usual - Pilgrim Economics and Conversations with a Pilgrim: Our guides help visitors learn all aspects of the Pilgrim family including economics, education, government, and faith. All tours require a reservation. Visit our website for tour times and information. Open seasonally.

Phillips House is the only home on historic Chestnut Street open to the public, and it provides a glimpse into the private world of the Phillips family during the early decades of the twentieth century. The kitchen, pantry, and a domestic staff bedroom, present a rarely seen picture of how the great houses functioned as new technologies were being introduced.

The Old Colony History Museum houses significant collections which chronicle lives lived, wars waged, fortunes won and ingenuity rewarded. We encourage visitors to walk among our exhibits and discover regional history. Others can find their roots in our research library, specializing in local genealogy. The Museum's parent organization is the Old Colony Historical Society, one of the oldest organizations of its kind in New England. Founded in 1853, it serves the region of southeastern Massachusetts that was once part of the Plymouth Colony. At OCHM, we're committed to the preservation of our history through public engagement and community outreach. We're here to collect, curate, interpret and bring to vibrant life the history of the Old Colony, collaborating with the community to share those meaningful connections that knit together our past, present and future. We invite you to experience what we mean by history happens here. The Old Colony History Museum is located on historic Church Green in Taunton. The Museum has its headquarters in the former Bristol Academy, designed in 1852 by the New York architect Richard Upjohn.

Exhibit hours and days vary throughout the year. For details please visit our website. **Advance reservations are required during the pandemic.** Most, but not all exhibits may be open at this time. ** New exhibits this year include: - An outdoor Wetu (Wampanoag dwelling), - The Turning Point - Mayflower Exhibit, - WWII Commemoration, and - Honoring the Suffrage Movement. Explore Cape Cod of centuries past with 12 galleries in 14 exhibits, starting with a tour of a historical dwelling built circa 1752. Discover Cape Cod's captivating history, art, and culture at the Chatham Historical Society's Atwood House Museum. In addition to the 18th century Atwood House, Museum highlights include: a Mural Barn with works by Alice Stallknecht, the Nickerson North Beach Camp, a fishing gallery, Double Take Then and Now photo exhibit, Main Street Cape Cod, stories of the Pendleton and other shipwrecks, several rotating exhibits, a research facility, a popular gift shop and more.

The American Heritage Museum at the Collings Foundation featuring the Jacques M. Littlefield Collection is a history museum chronicling the fight of the American soldier for freedom from the Revolutionary War through modern conflicts and the role that technology played in the battles fought. Told through over 85+ large artifacts throughout the 73,000 square foot museum, the AHM maintains one of the largest collection of operating tanks and military vehicles in the World from many nations including many rare examples such as a German Panther, a Russian IS-2, a U.S. M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo, an Iraqi SCUD B Missile and Launcher, and the only U.S. M1A1 Abrams tank on public museum display in the world. Visitors hear and experience the personal stories of those that fought or helped others fight through first-hand experiences like the World War I trench experience, engaging docents who were crew on tanks in modern wars, and the moving story of the crew of the M1A1 Abrams on display.

The Martha's Vineyard Museum (MVM) is a historical and cultural institution collecting art, artifacts, oral histories, documents, and photographs that help tell the stories of Martha's Vineyard from its formation as an island to the present. Founded as the Dukes County Historical Society in 1922, it was officially renamed the Martha's Vineyard Museum in 2006 to better reflect its focus on both collecting the history of the island and presenting, educating, and sharing it with the public. In 2011, MVM purchased the 1895 Marine Hospital site in Vineyard Haven and set out to transform it into a new museum. MVM made the decision to maintain ownership of part of its original Edgartown campus in order to continue to steward the historic Cooke House and create a public garden for the community. In March 2019, the Vineyard Haven site opened to the public with great fanfare and a blockbuster exhibit celebrating the island's profound influence on the work of Thomas Hart Benton.

America's oldest public museum is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of both Native American and Pilgrim artifacts.

Relive the Kennedy era in this dynamic combination museum and library, where your visit starts with a short film and then leaves you on your own to explore a series of fascinating exhibits, including the Kennedy-Nixon debate, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the space program, 1960s campaign paraphernalia and displays about Jacqueline and other Kennedy family members. The striking, I.M. Pei-designed building overlooks the water and the Boston skyline.

At the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, you can be a part of the famous event that forever changed the course of American History! It’s more than a stroll through historic artifacts – it’s an adventure! Located on the Congress Street Bridge in Boston, Massachusetts, this floating museum is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. Live actors, high-tech, interactive exhibits, authentically restored tea ships and the stirring, multi-sensory documentary “Let it Begin Here,” are just a taste of what you’ll see, hear and feel. Meet the colonists, explore the ships and dump tea overboard just as the Sons of Liberty did on that fateful night of December 16, 1773. Stop in at Abigail’s Tea Room for teatime and visit the Gift Shop for special souvenirs. It’s educational, entertaining and enlightening — an experience not to be missed by adults and children of all ages. Your tour of the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum will last approximately one hour and will take you through a variety of displays that are interconnected. The tour is designed to give you the opportunity to participate, explore and learn about the people, events and consequences that led up to the American Revolution in the order in which they actually occurred more than 230 years ago.