Alaska Museums & Cultural Centers

As part of the New Deal dur­ing the 1930s, the Civil­ian Con­ser­va­tion Corps came to this area and hired skilled Native artists who could recre­ate old crum­bling poles and train appren­tices, to keep the art form alive. You can wan­der the grounds at this state park, and learn about how to inter­pret the sym­bols on poles, or check out the large, carved trib­al house. Was named to the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places in 1970. 10 miles out of town on  ...more

Expe­ri­ence world-class exhibits and audio­vi­su­al pro­grams. Dis­cov­er Tsimshi­an, Hai­da and Tlin­git totem poles, the rain­for­est room, a Native fish camp scene, and exhibits on South­east Alaska’s ecosys­tems, fish­ing, min­ing, tim­ber and tourism. Locat­ed one block from the cruise ship dock in down­town Ketchikan. Accepts Amer­i­ca-the-Beau­ti­ful passes.

The art of totem pole carv­ing was a lux­u­ry that expe­ri­enced its hey­day in the mid-1700s to the late 1800s. The fur trade had pro­vid­ed the Tlin­git, Hai­da and Tsimshi­an peo­ples a new­found sense of wealth – and time to focus on the artistry of the totem

Built on the old fish­ing grounds of Tlin­git Natives, the park hosts some of the finest native art in the world!

List­ed on the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places, this col­lec­tion of 19^th cen­tu­ry totem poles is the biggest in the world. Sal­vaged from aban­doned Hai­da and Tlin­git vil­lages, some are as old as 160 years — no small feat, since totem poles usu­al­ly dete­ri­o­rate in less than a cen­tu­ry. You can take a quick, free tour, or check out the cur­rent exhibits of con­tem­po­rary Tlin­git art.

In the muse­um are artifacts,text and pho­tos telling of Alaska’s spir­it­ed First City as a Native fish camp, min­ing hub, salmon can­ning cap­i­tal, fish­ing port and tim­ber town. The Cen­ten­ni­al Build­ing com­mem­o­rates the pur­chase of Alas­ka from Rus­sia in 1867. In front is the Raven Steal­ing the Sun pole, carved by Dempsey Bob and raised in 1983.

If you want a chance to sit back and enjoy an icon­ic view of Alas­ka, catch up on your work, or peruse a large col­lec­tion of Alaskana, there’s no more per­fect place than the new Ketchikan library.

The Mor­ris Thomp­son Cul­tur­al and Vis­i­tors Cen­ter in down­town Fair­banks has brochures, maps, free WiFi and tele­phone, dai­ly lodg­ing avail­abil­i­ty, and local walk­ing and dri­ving tours. Serv­ing as the region­al vis­i­tor facil­i­ty, the friend­ly and knowl­edge­able staff have answers to all your questions.

Expe­ri­ence the inte­ri­or of Alas­ka 100 years ago! Pio­neer Park is a his­toric vil­lage that fea­tures orig­i­nal build­ings moved from down­town Fair­banks, as well as muse­ums, and the Gold Rush. Come enjoy the carousel and train that runs the perime­ter of the park, an array of local shops, and rus­tic cab­in restau­rants. Stay for a cou­ple of hours or spend a full day; Pio­neer Park offers fun for the whole family.

Alaska’s road to mod­ern­iza­tion a cen­tu­ry ago was a dra­mat­ic jour­ney, and the Foun­tain­head Antique Auto Muse­um explores that jour­ney in fun, vivid detail. On the grounds of Wedge­wood Resort — a mem­ber of the city’s pre­mier, local­ly owned hotel group — the muse­um show­cas­es dozens of his­tor­i­cal­ly sig­nif­i­cant pre-World War II auto­mo­biles, and offers vis­i­tors a trip back to Alaska’s rugged and excit­ing for­ma­tive years.

Devot­ed to all things ice, this muse­um will put you in a win­ter mood no mat­ter what the sum­mer tem­per­a­tures are like. You’ll see sev­er­al large ice dis­plays, a freez­er you can go in to feel like it’s 20 degrees below zero, a huge-screen slide show with the annu­al World Ice Art cham­pi­onships, and freez­ers with huge ice tableaux.

The mis­sion of the Pio­neer Air Muse­um is to col­lect, pro­tect, and pre­serve for edu­ca­tion­al pur­pos­es objects that reflect the his­to­ry of inte­ri­or and arc­tic Alaskan avi­a­tion through acquir­ing, restor­ing, inter­pret­ing, and dis­play­ing his­tor­i­cal­ly sig­nif­i­cant objects. View log­books, cloth­ing, maps, ear­ly flight instru­ments, and air­craft sport­ing skis and floats adapt­ed to rugged Alaskan runways.

Vis­i­tors can pur­chase tick­ets to hop aboard the Crooked Creek Whiskey Island Rail­road encir­cling Pio­neer Park and pulled by Old 67. It’s just $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and kids under 12 (lap babies are free). The train runs every 15 min­utes dur­ing the open sea­son from noon to 7:30pm. An on-board guide points out his­toric attrac­tions and activ­i­ties in each section. 

From Alas­ka native art to polar dinosaurs, you’ll find some­thing inter­est­ing on exhib­it here. Head to the cen­ter­piece of this muse­um, the Rose Berry Alas­ka Art Gallery, to see the full spec­trum of Alaskan art, from ancient Eski­mo ivory carv­ings to con­tem­po­rary paint­ings and sculptures.

Open­ing in Octo­ber 2016! Kaw­er­ak Katirvik Cul­tur­al Cen­ter is a meet­ing place for shar­ing, cel­e­brat­ing and under­stand­ing the cul­tur­al tra­di­tions and lan­guage of the Cen­tral Yup’ik, St. Lawrence Island Yupik and Inu­pi­aq peo­ples of the area. Call ahead for events, which can include Elder sto­ries and danc­ing. Or stop by to check out the inter­ac­tive edu­ca­tion­al displays.

Dis­cov­er gold nuggets from Nome’s rich his­to­ry at the Car­rie M. McLain Memo­r­i­al Muse­um, open Tues­day – Sat­ur­day in the Richard Fos­ter Build­ing. Inter­ac­tive exhibits fea­ture the nat­ur­al land­scape, Alas­ka Native art­work, and the town of Nome from its Tent City begin­nings to its present-day role as a region­al hub.

Go back to Beringia, way back, to a time when wool­ly mam­moths and scim­i­tar cats roamed the land. To a time when a 1,000-mile-wide migra­tion cor­ri­dor linked Alas­ka and Rus­sia. (That’s how indige­nous peo­ple got to North Amer­i­ca.) Learn all about it at the Bering Land Bridge Nation­al Pre­serve Vis­i­tor Center.

Skag­way’s unique his­to­ry as a vital trans­porta­tion cor­ri­dor and gate­way to inte­ri­or Alas­ka and the Yukon is por­trayed in the arti­facts, pho­tographs and his­tor­i­cal records of the past cen­tu­ry. The Muse­um is locat­ed in the town’s mag­nif­i­cent City Hall, this is the first stone build­ing in Alas­ka, built with gran­ite from Cana­da that was trans­port­ed on the WP&YR Rail­road. On dis­play are items such as a Tlin­git canoe, a Port­land Cut­ter sleigh,…  ...more

Housed in the cir­ca 1898 White Pass & Yukon Route Rail­road Depot, the his­toric Moore house and the Mas­cot Saloon. Col­lec­tions con­sist of over 200,000 archae­ol­o­gy arti­facts asso­ci­at­ed with the Klondike gold rush and 3,000 copies of his­toric pho­tographs of the gold rush peri­od. Library and 100-seat audi­to­ri­um. Guid­ed tours, inter­pre­tive pro­grams, films and per­ma­nent exhi­bi­tions. Hours May-Sep: Dai­ly 8am-6pm Admis­sion No admis­sion fee,…  ...more

A good place to start any tour of Skag­way is the for­mer White Pass and Yukon Rail­road Depot. This mas­sive, col­or­ful struc­ture, built in 1898, was a dom­i­nant part of Skag­way life until 1969, when rail­road oper­a­tions moved to the WP&YR’s new build­ing two doors east. The old depot is now the Nation­al Park Ser­vice Vis­i­tor Cen­ter, where vis­i­tors can enjoy movies, walk­ing tours and oth­er activ­i­ties dur­ing the sum­mer. Although the tracks are now…  ...more

Exhibits in six restored his­toric build­ings dat­ing from the end of the 19^th cen­tu­ry: James Wick­er­sham’s first Cour­t­house, U.S. Cus­tom House, the Improved Order of Red Men Lodge and three Fort Egbert build­ings, all with peri­od fur­nish­ings. Dis­plays with pho­tographs on the Gold Rush town, mil­i­tary fort and com­mer­cial cen­ter with judi­cial, com­mu­ni­ca­tion, trans­porta­tion, con­struc­tion, agri­cul­ture, min­ing, pio­neer activ­i­ties and social…  ...more

You can’t escape the town’s his­tor­i­cal dynam­ic, and this muse­um is the best place to get the inside scoop on its past, includ­ing the cop­per rush that hap­pened between 1900 and 1938. The muse­um build­ing itself is a piece of his­to­ry, hav­ing once been the railw¬ay depot. Check out the pic­tures of rail­way con­struc­tion — 196 miles of track from Cor­do­va — which are alone worth the vis­it. You’ll also find pho­tos and arti­facts that give you an idea what…  ...more

Homer’s Pratt Muse­um pre­serves the sto­ries of the Kachemak Bay region and pro­vides a gath­er­ing place for peo­ple to learn and to be inspired by this region and its place in the world. The museum’s exten­sive col­lec­tion offers an excel­lent way to learn more about the land­scape, com­mu­ni­ties and ecosys­tems of the area.

While you’re explor­ing Homer and it’s eco­log­i­cal-rich envi­rons, a stop at the Cen­ter for Alaskan Coastal Stud­ies adds to your appre­ci­a­tion of the his­to­ry and wildlife of the area.

There’s no bet­ter place to get a grasp on Alaska’s his­to­ry — real­ly, its many his­to­ries— than by vis­it­ing the Anchor­age Muse­um. The state’s largest muse­um is tru­ly a world-class expe­ri­ence, offer­ing a com­pelling overview of Alas­ka his­to­ry, art, cul­ture, and science. 

What was it like for a fam­i­ly liv­ing in Anchor­age in 1915? The Oscar Ander­son House Muse­um, locat­ed in Elder­ber­ry Park at 5^th Avenue and M Street, is the per­fect way to find out.

An aug­ment­ed real­i­ty expe­ri­ence in down­town Anchor­age inspired by the famed north­ern lights. This merg­ing of art and tech­nol­o­gy offers vis­i­tors of all ages a tru­ly unique way to feel the essence and mag­ic of the auro­ra bore­alis any time of year! 

This Anchor­age Cul­tur­al Cen­ter offers an in-depth look at Alaskan Native life — with a big focus on Alas­ka Natives. Watch danc­ing, lis­ten to sto­ries, meet carvers, and hear from artists. The set­ting is so small and inti­mate that vis­i­tors are some­times even invit­ed to join the dancers on stage.

This Anchor­age library is much more than a spot for locals to check out books — it’s one of the most spec­tac­u­lar build­ings in Anchor­age and a true des­ti­na­tion for vis­i­tors. With a large sec­tion of Alaskana, gor­geous art­work, and numer­ous events, it’s a great place for trav­el­ers to get a bet­ter sense of the state. Free wi-fi, pub­lic com­put­ers, and lap­tops for rent offer are oth­er resources you can find here.

Home­stead­ers. Entre­pre­neurs. Pho­tog­ra­phers. This petite, but very well-done muse­um in mid­town Anchor­age offers engag­ing proof of how the state of Alas­ka has been shaped — and is still being shaped — by a diverse com­mu­ni­ty. It’s open 1pm — 6pm Sun­day through Thurs­day year-round (closed Fri­day and Sat­ur­day for the Jew­ish Sab­bath). It takes only 15 min­utes to see the exhibits, but you can also watch a 90-minute video about War­ren Met­zk­er, a legend  ...more

The local his­to­ry muse­um, oper­at­ed in part­ner­ship with the Res­ur­rec­tion Bay His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety, is sit­u­at­ed on the first floor. The library, locat­ed on the sec­ond floor, offers com­put­er with inter­net access, youth pro­grams, and preschool sto­ry time for no cost. 

The muse­um presents the chief events of Seward’s his­to­ry through pho­tographs, arti­facts and doc­u­ments. There is also a fine col­lec­tion of Native bas­kets and ivory carv­ings on dis­play. Dur­ing the sum­mer there are evening pro­grams con­sist­ing of two slide shows: The His­to­ry of Seward and The His­to­ry of the Idi­tar­od Trail. A spe­cial open house is held every August 28 in hon­or of the found­ing of Seward in 1903. Muse­um shop car­ries books by local  ...more

Learn about this rur­al town’s native, gold min­ing, and avi­a­tion his­to­ry in this muse­um housed in a lit­tle red school house, as well as a num­ber of small­er, old rail­road build­ings. You’ll find out about ice roads and hors­es wear­ing snow shoes, how air­planes took over from trac­tors, as well as infor­ma­tion about bear traps, native arti­facts, and how folks sur­vived the harsh win­ters of the Susit­na Val­ley. Also, see some of the orig­i­nal trappers’…  ...more

This muse­um sits on the site where Alas­ka offi­cial­ly became a state. View the exhibits and watch an award-win­ning doc­u­men­tary about the city. Plus, the City Muse­um doesn’t end at the building’s walls. From May to Sep­tem­ber, you can take walk­ing tours of his­toric down­town Juneau and the Alas­ka State Capitol.

Locat­ed in the his­toric com­pres­sor build­ing asso­ci­at­ed with the for­mer Alas­ka Juneau Gold Min­ing Com­pa­ny which oper­at­ed in Juneau from 1912 until 1944. The muse­um fea­tures one of the world’s largest air com­pres­sors and oth­er indus­tri­al arti­facts asso­ci­at­ed with hard rock gold min­ing. The site also includes elec­tric loco­mo­tives and rail cars which hauled men to the mine and ore to the mill. Access to the muse­um is via a short hike up the hill…  ...more

Hours Fri­day: 11am-5pm Sat­ur­day: noon-4pm or by appoint­ment Admis­sion Free 

New­ly ren­o­vat­ed in 2016. Estab­lished in 1900, the Muse­um col­lects, exhibits, and inter­prets the human and nat­ur­al his­to­ry of Alas­ka. The Muse­um fea­tures a full-size bald eagle nest­ing tree and exten­sive ethno­graph­ic exhibits on the cul­tures of Alaska’s Native peo­ple. Two gal­leries offer chang­ing exhibits.

Dr. Shel­don Jack­son, muse­um founder, had the dis­tinc­tion of serv­ing in three pio­neer fields dur­ing the late 1800s, found­ing Protes­tant mis­sions and schools, estab­lish­ing the pub­lic school sys­tem, and intro­duc­ing domes­tic rein­deer. In his trav­els he reached many sec­tions of Alas­ka, as well as the coast of Siberia, gath­er­ing the major­i­ty of the arti­facts now seen in the muse­um. Locat­ed on the cam­pus of Shel­don Jack­son Col­lege, the muse­um was…  ...more

Walk­ing the streets of Sit­ka, you may find it hard to believe that this qui­et coastal com­mu­ni­ty was once the hub of the West Coast: a cen­ter for trade, diplo­ma­cy, and the arts. When San Fran­cis­co had less than 10 res­i­dents, Sit­ka was home to 800 Rus­sians, Euro­peans, Tlin­gits, and Aleuts. The old­est town on the West Coast, it was the cap­i­tal of Russ­ian Amer­i­ca — called New Archangel — and was boom­ing from the ear­ly 1800s through the Unit­ed States’…  ...more

Explore a large, scale mod­el of Sit­ka from 1867, the year the Rus­sians trans­ferred the Ter­ri­to­ry to the Unit­ed States. View exhibits on tra­di­tion­al Tlin­git lifestyles and see a col­lec­tion of tight­ly woven cedar and spruce root bas­kets. Or learn about the town black­outs and a large-scale mil­i­tary buildup in Sit­ka dur­ing World War II. The muse­um is the only place in Sit­ka that includes all three ele­ments of the town’s his­to­ry – Tlin­git, Russian…  ...more

This is a fun lit­tle trea­sure hunt for kids. The mon­ey tree isn’t marked, but it’s near the start of the Totem Trail. Look for a tree stump, about a foot and half tall, that’s filled with coins. Where the branch­es have bro­ken off, there are coins in the lit­tle holes. Peo­ple have been putting coins in this tree for over 50 years; if you can find the tree, join the tradition!

The Hope-Sun­rise His­tor­i­cal and Min­ing Muse­um exhibits pho­tographs and arti­facts of the Tur­na­gain Arm Gold Rush of 1896 and the years since.

A col­lec­tion of approx­i­mate­ly 1400 types of ham­mers, rep­re­sent­ing many dif­fer­ent trades and uses, housed in a cot­tage-style house. The Ham­mer Muse­um pro­vides a jour­ney into the past through the use of man’s first tool. From ancient times to the present, the ham­mer tells the sto­ry of man’s progress and inge­nu­ity. A unique adven­ture for the whole family.

Dis­cov­er Haines! The Shel­don Muse­um is the muse­um of the Chilkat Val­ley. Expe­ri­ence the art and cul­ture of the Tlin­git peo­ple. Re-live pio­neer days, explore the gold rush, the Dal­ton Trail and life at Fort William H. Seward. The muse­um store has a large selec­tion of local and Alaskan books and art. Accred­it­ed by the Amer­i­can Asso­ci­a­tion of Muse­ums. Hours Sum­mer Mon-Fri: 10am-5pm Sat-Sun: 1pm-4pm Extended…  ...more

The dream of the famed Chilkat tribe of Tlin­git Indi­ans, this work­ing muse­um hon­ors the great lega­cy of North­west Coast art as prac­ticed by a proud and wealthy peo­ple. It hous­es the famed Whale House arti­facts while serv­ing as a work­shop for con­tem­po­rary carvers and weavers.

The Amer­i­can Bald Eagle Foun­da­tion and Live Rap­tor Cen­ter is a non-prof­it edu­ca­tion cen­ter locat­ed near the post office, a few blocks from down­town Haines. And in the sum­mer, the cen­ter hosts live rap­tor pro­grams fea­tur­ing bald eagles, owls, hawks, and oth­er birds of prey. The muse­um has an enor­mous room filled with real­is­tic taxi­dermy dis­plays of a wide vari­ety of Alaskan crit­ters. You’ll also find a vari­ety of habi­tats and species  ...more

Built like a cathe­dral but with two sto­ries of win­dows to let the out­doors in, the Haines Library is a gath­er­ing spot for vis­i­tors and res­i­dents alike. Three easy chairs at the end of its great hall are a priv­i­leged nook for patrons who get there first. When opened in 2002, Library Jour­nal ranked this as the nation’s finest small library. Find a book or mag­a­zine, sink into the rock­ing chair or an easy chair and soak in the view. You’ll feel like  ...more

Hous­es exhibits, arti­fact col­lec­tions, library, gift shop, and a tra­di­tion­al room where peo­ple can demon­strate and teach tra­di­tion­al crafts in Elders-in-Res­i­dence and Artists-in-Res­i­dence pro­grams. As an affli­at­ed Nation­al Park, the North Slope Bor­ough owns and man­ages the Inu­pi­at Her­itage Center.