City: Des Moines, IA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (515) 281-5111

Address: 600 E. Locust St.

Insider Pick:

Description: This airy, multistory free museum in the building housing the state historical society contains a huge wealth of information on Iowa history. Displays extend all the way back to prehistoric times, including a look at the great inland seas and early creatures once found in what is now Iowa. The state’s early years are examined with exhibits on native cultures, immigration, and taming the land for agriculture. You can push a plow and try to move a two-person saw, as well as watch videos about the challenges faced by pioneer settlers. Nearby, another room showcases all sorts of archived treasures, including historical household items and military relics dating back to colonial times. Large artifacts dominate the lower floor, including a stagecoach and a casting of a woolly mammoth skeleton, as well as vintage airplanes hanging in the building’s atrium. The exhibit “Patten’s Neighborhood” examines the history of African-American life from the early 1900s until the 1960s in Des Moines’s old Center Street neighborhood. While African-American residents of Des Moines never accounted for more than 5 percent of the city’s population, even with the influx of African-American officer candidates at Fort Des Moines during World War I, there were still two newspapers and numerous businesses serving the community, including a printing business operated by Robert E. Patten, collector of many artifacts presented in the exhibit. A display of photos of prominent Iowans on the other side of the gift shop includes Herbert Hoover, Grant Wood, and renowned opera singer Simon Estes. One of the museum’s most interesting exhibits is a large room of wildlife dioramas, featuring all sorts of stuffed animals posed in simulated native habitats: Check out the different birds and wildlife in strikingly lifelike displays. Another exhibit gives visitors a front-row seat to the Iowa caucuses, which bring presidential hopefuls to Iowa every four years. You feel like you’re actually walking alongside the candidates through the whirlwind of campaigning and media appearances all across the state. Temporary exhibits have examined notable moments in history and their impact on Iowa, including wars and other historic events as well as more low-key aspects of history, such as domestic life and education. The museum is closed Mon and has a gift shop. There’s a cafe in the building, open Mon through Sat.