From the late Victorian era to the middle of the 20th century, Indiana was a powerhouse of manufacturing and agriculture. However, civic-minded Hoosiers were determined to make their capital city of Indianapolis more than a crossroads in a cornfield. Consequently, the museums they founded were so substantial and innovative that they continue to stand out to this day.
Center a visit to Indianapolis’ museums around the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, located in Monument Circle, a circular park that anchors downtown Indy. Its limestone spire is 284.5 feet high, nearly as tall as the Statue of Liberty. A short drive north of downtown Indy showcases its crown jewels: the Children’s Museum and Newfields, which comprises the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the adjacent gardens.
A half-mile west of Monument Circle, you’ll find the White River State Park, with a cornucopia of museums, including the must-see Eiteljorg Museum and the Indiana State Museum. If you’re up for a walk, the museums at the White River State Park campus are the perfect combination of cardio and culture.
Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Best museum for families
You know you’re at a museum that doesn’t take itself too seriously when you spot a huge dinosaur poking its head through the museum’s glass wall. One of the oldest and largest children’s museums in the world, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis offers several floors of hands-on learning for kids ages 2 and up. Most exhibits provide learning experiences for all skill levels, allowing everyone in the family to find something to explore. A miniature village lets preschoolers discover buildings scaled just for them, while school-aged kids can delve into exhibits about trains, Greece, and history. The appeal of the full-scale carousel knows no age limits.
The museum refreshed and expanded its Dinosphere exhibit in March 2022, enabling visitors to walk back in time to feel the earth shake beneath dinosaurs’ feet and hear them screech overhead. Kids can crawl through a secret tunnel and pop up in the middle of one exhibit’s foliage for a 360-degree view from a baby dino’s perspective. Don’t miss the second-floor dinosaur art gallery, where you can feed your art into an animation projector and see your creations prance across the wall. The museum’s staff paleontologists host demos and are open to questions in their lab.
Outside, the 7-acre sports park invites visitors to try golf, basketball, baseball, and other popular sports under the watchful eye of statues of major Hoosier sports legends. People of all ages can enjoy the children’s museum—adults at heart should stay updated on events.
Indiana Historical Society
Best museum for traditional artifacts
President Abraham Lincoln famously arrived in southern Indiana as a 7-year-old child and left as a 21-year-old man. However, he isn’t the only notable Hoosier. Special exhibits at the Indiana Historical Society highlight individuals who defy the stereotype of this agriculture-centric state, such as Jewish merchants who built ornate department stores in the Gilded Age, musicians, and masters of craft and art.
Exhibit visitors can see a digitally animated piano replicate the touch of Indiana-born musician Cole Porter, who created jazz as the original American musical genre. The Society’s History Lab provides a rare glimpse of the materials and techniques that curators use to preserve and showcase irreplaceable artifacts.
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Best museum for lovers of gardens and traditional Western art
The Indianapolis Museum of Art sits majestically amidst gardens and smaller historic outbuildings. The museum’s main gallery showcases paintings and sculptures that span from the classic European masters of the 17th century to Ghanian sculptures. Additionally, the collection is particularly strong in 19th- to mid-20th-century American art, featuring works by renowned artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Edward Hopper, and Claes Oldenburg.
The gardens closest to the museum are formal and well-manicured before melding into a natural area. The grounds include several restored small historic buildings, enabling visitors to craft itineraries that integrate visual art, architecture, and nature.
Eiteljorg Museum
Best museum for Americana enthusiasts
The Eiteljorg Museum has transformed its original collection of conqueror-centric art into a platform that narrates the American West’s story from the perspectives of Native Americans, settlers, artists, naturalists, early environmentalists, and industrialists. Its collections include remarkable sculptures capturing the essence of leaping horses and wandering cowboys by Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, presented alongside works by Native American artists. Curators have expanded the museum’s vision to incorporate special exhibits, such as interpretations of the West by Andy Warhol. Each summer, the museum hosts an Indian Market and Festival, complementing its extensive collections of indigenous textiles, pottery, and sculpture.
Conner Prairie
Best museum for living history from multiple perspectives
In 1802, 25-year-old William Conner married Mekinges, a Native American woman from the Delaware tribe, establishing connections and claiming a generous plot of rich land. His house serves as the centerpiece of this museum, which immerses visitors in living history through its diverse exhibits, primarily outdoors.
The variety of historical interpretation and integrated activities place Conner Prairie among the country’s premier living history museums. The Lenape camp allows children to explore tents and Native American industries, including methods for hollowing canoes from tree trunks. Just a short walk away stands the original house built by William, enriched by children from two marriages, one to a Native American woman and one to a white woman.
The adjacent barn shelters sheep and goats. A short stroll leads visitors to Prairietown, where rustic houses and a store, schoolhouse, forge, and woodshop are occupied by resident reenactor settlers from the 1850s. Located just a half-hour drive north from Monument Circle, this site offers a unique historical experience.
Indiana State Museum
Best museum for immersive state history
Setting the standard for Midwest state museums, the lively Indiana State Museum brings energy and focus to the rich natural and human history associated with its state parks. Visitors can stand next to a real mammoth skeleton, hold replicas of prairie pioneer tools, and experience life in various Indiana habitats through the centuries.
Exhibits include an actual mallet used by Lincoln alongside artists’ depictions of ancient animals, providing a fascinating connection to Indiana’s history. Furthermore, the museum oversees 11 additional historical sites around the state, linking them through timelines to give context to your journey across Indiana.
