What to do and see in Missouri, United States: The Best History Museums

This local history museum features changing exhibitions about St. Charles County's rich heritage. The Outdoor Heritage exhibition features the world's largest hunting simulator.

Temporarily Closed

The National WWI Museum and Memorial is America's leading institution dedicated to remembering, interpreting and understanding the Great War and its enduring impact on the global community. The Museum and Memorial holds the most comprehensive collection of World War I objects and documents in the world and is the second-oldest public museum dedicated to preserving the objects, history and experiences of the war. The Museum and Memorial takes visitors of all ages on an epic journey through a transformative period and shares deeply personal stories of courage, honor, patriotism and sacrifice. Designated by Congress as America's official World War I Museum and Memorial and located in downtown Kansas City, Mo., the National WWI Museum and Memorial inspires thought, dialogue and learning to make the experiences of the Great War era meaningful and relevant for present and future generations.

Rockcliffe Mansion is an amazing Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred SF, Thirty room, Grand Residence built to overlook the Mighty Mississippi between 1898 and 1900 by Lumber Baron John J Cruikshank, Jr. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the original antique furnishings and fixtures are preserved. The Mansion is filled with rich Mahogany, Oak and Walnut appointments, magnificent Palladian windows and the finest interior decorations from Europe and America. Guided Tours are available daily. In addition to Guided Tours, the Mansion offers 4 Bed & Breakfast accommodations. Open March 15th through November 15th. Please visit our Website for Tour hours and further information.

Since opening on February 6, 1943, the Campbell House Museum has served the greater St. Louis area as one of America's premier historic property museums. The Museum not only preserves the Campbell's house, but also their collection of original furniture, fixtures, paintings, objects and thousands of pages of family documents. Included in these documents is a unique album of 60 photographs of the interior of the house taken in about 1885. In 2005 the Museum completed a meticulous five-year restoration that returned the building to its opulent 1880s appearance, when the house was one of the centers of St. Louis society.

In 1946 it was at Westminster College that Winston Churchill delivered one of the most significant speeches of his long and illustrious career. That address, formally entitled, The Sinews of Peace, but best known for that evocative phrase, An Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent, effectively marked the beginning of the Cold War and linked, forever, Fulton and Westminster College with Winston Churchill.In the 1960s Westminster College set out to mark what would be the 40th anniversary of Churchill's visit. After due consideration to traditional modes of commemoration, Westminster College settled on the rather more ambitious notion of moving a Christopher Wren designed Church from London. This Church, St. Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury, had stood in London since 1677 when it replaced an earlier structure that had sat on the same site since the 12th century. This magnificent building, badly damaged during the London Blitz, was moved stone by stone to Westminster's campus and rebuilt to Wren's original specifications.Beneath this Church is the National Churchill Museum itself which through the imaginative and innovative use of technology bring to life the story of Winston Churchill and the world he knew. Recently rebuilt form the ground up the new displays and the permanent exhibition, together with host of associated historical and cultural activities that support it was recognized the by the United States Congress as America's permanent tribute to this great man and formally recognized as America's National Churchill Museum.

We are proud to present the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum, built by Johnny Morris, to share the rich history of the Ozarks and the animals and people who came before us. Featured items in the museum include a woolly mammoth, a saber toothed cat, giant ground sloth skeletons and prehistoric cave bears. Through artifacts, images, text and video you’ll learn about the Ozarks and the people and animals that lived here over 12,000 years ago up through the Civil War era. Nowhere else can outdoor enthusiasts, families and history buffs experience, in chronological order, the history of the Ozarks documented so thoroughly.

The Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum is housed in a beautifully restored 1896 building that is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located in the 426-acre historic Jefferson Barracks Park which is a 15-minute drive south of downtown Saint Louis. The self-guided, accessible museum has many hands-on, how-things-work displays. In addition to the extensive collection of telephones manufactured from the 1800s through 2000s, the museum also contains: • A working Central Office Step Switch. • Operator switchboards. • Military telephones from WWI through the Gulf War. • Hundreds of pieces of telephone-related equipment and tools. • Hundreds of pieces of telephone-related memorabilia from the 1880s through the 2000s. • A large variety of novelty telephones. Admission: $5 Adults, $4 Seniors; $3 Children ages 5 to 12; Free Children ages 4 and under. Free parking is available directly behind the museum.