Can’t believe I forgot to mention this one. You can read all the books and watch all the documentaries, but standing in the tiny physical spaces of my own family’s past made it real. Everybody can find something of interest in this museum, but if you are descended from German, Irish, Italian, or Jewish immigrants that spent a generation or two in those tenements, it might be life-changing.
Does anyone know if there is a museum in the world that recreates the steerage spaces on immigrant ships?
I think the Titanic Museum in Belfast recreates the steerage spaces, but possibly museum-goers can’t get in those recreated spaces The Titanic Museum doesn’t qualify as hidden, but it’s a gem. My husband and I went there because we had an extra half day in Belfast, not because we thought we’d like it much. But it turns out to be an amazing museum, nothing like what I thought it would be. It focuses mostly on the people who built the ship, and the people who worked in it or who were trying to emigrate, as befits a museum in the ship-building city of Belfast.
Two Canadian museums worth a visit:
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax—lots of Titanic artifacts, also very good on WW II convoys
The Canadian War Museum, Ottawa
I second the Johnstown Flood National Monument, the Miusical Instrument Museum in Phoenix and the Dali Museum in Tampa.
I also recommend The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, home to one of the United States’ most extensive collections of Himalayan artifacts.on StatenI island, NY. Another is the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum in Fairbanks Alaska. An incredible collection of cars from the beginning of autos to about the 40’s.
On a recent trip to see University at Buffalo, we saw The Martin House by Frank Lloyd Wright- it was beautiful and they are almost done with a complete restoration of the house. Also went to the Erie Discovery Center in nearby Lockport Ny. This is a tiny museum, but more importantly, you can see the locks working on the Erie Canal just outside. My future engineer enjoyed this. I think there were tour boats on the canal as well.
The Mariners Museum mentioned in the very first post is only a mile from Christopher Newport University, if anyone is touring there. I like to break up these college visits with some other activities so I can pretend I’m on vacation.
Has anyone mentioned the Carl Sandburg (poet, folksinger) home in NC? His family knew they were going to donate it so not a thing was changed. Still the same box of Kleenex that was there when he was alive.
There are goats!
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (Theodore Roosevelt’s home) and adjacent wildlife/bird sanctuary in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York-- if you like presidential history, there are great exhibits about TR’s life and presidency; his preserved home and furniture; short and easy hiking trails to a beautiful view of the bay; and a short drive or longer walk to a bird sanctuary with live rescued animal exhibits.
Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium, in Centerport, Long Island, New York-- world class planetarium shares grounds with other buildings including a grand historic Gold Coast home you can tour, extensive marine life exhibits, early automobile exhibit, and taxidermied animal exhibits. Green lawns slope down to gorgeous views of Long Island Sound.
Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages in Stony Brook, Long Island, New York-- exhibits from America’s history including a unique museum of horse drawn carriages of all sorts, an old schoolhouse, art of Williams Sidney Mount depicting earlier rural life on Long Island, displays of miniature doll houses, etc. Drive or walk into Stony Brook Village nearby to enjoy seeing the mechanical eagle on the post office flap its wings on the hour, visit the historic grist mill, or eat at historic restaurants like the Three Village Inn or the Country House.
All of the above museums are a five minute drive from north shore beaches, and a thirty minute or more drive from south shore beaches. North shore beaches are pebbly, not smooth sand. They have milder waves than south shore beaches because they are on the Long Island Sound. They are great for beachcombing, because the waves don’t break up the shells as much. They have views of adjacent peninsulas and of Connecticut across the Long Island Sound. South shore beaches are sandy with big waves and stretch seemingly endlessly; you can take a passenger-only ferry to Fire Island or drive your car across a bridge to Robert Moses or Smith Point or Jones Beach state parks.
Speaking of presidential history, the Roosevelt Cottage and Visitor Center on Campobello Island in New Brunswick, is a fascinating look at FDR and his family. Beautiful gardens, with lovely flowers. The “dinner plate” sized dahlias are spectacular.
^^^Another Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, NY. The FDR National Historic Site is FDR’s birthplace and lifelong home and also where he’s buried. The place has an amazing history. Nearby is Eleanor Roosevelt’s cottage/getaway–Val-Kil. It too is a great site to visit and learn about Eleanor Roosevelt’s work as First Lady. Eleanor made this her permanent home when FDR passed away. Both are operated by the National Park Service. Tours at both sites were excellent.
It is located a short distance south of I-80 between Kearney and Grand Island, and was founded by a wealthy Nebraskan to document scientific progress from the 1830 to when it opened in the 1980’s. The 20 acre site has over over 50,000 pieces of Americana in 26 buildings. Many of the buildings were plucked from their country settings and restored here.
I got to visit a place today I have been wanting to visit for awhile, since we are in Philadelphia for husband’s business meeting. Eastern State Penitentiary. Fascinating.
In Nyc, I find myself going to the cloisters, which is part of the met museum, a few times a year. Its like visiting dordogne France or parts of Italy. I’ve seem some really great shows at the FIT museum but that one is show dependent.
The British library had some very cool items - Beatles lyrics, magna carta, Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland… and it felt like a library, not a museum.
Thomas Edison house in New Jersey has been on my list for a long time but haven’t made it there yet.
Have not been to the Edison house - have been to the Edison Lab and it is very cool (I think the house was under renovation when we went so we didn’t see it)
@JHS if you like sculpture gradens the Pepsico gardens in purchase NY are well worth a visit. It’s got a great collect of trees too.
Hidden gem in London is the Sir John Soane’s museum - Soane was an architect in the early 19th century and his own house was his workshop. It’s an amazing use of light wells and also a pretty amazing art collection. https://www.soane.org
Second the recommendation of the Philip’s Collection - it’s my favorite museum in DC.