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Kansas Museum of History

Kansas Museum of History
Entrance (2015)
Kansas Museum of History is located in Kansas
Kansas Museum of History
Location within Kansas
Established1984 (1984)
Location6425 SW 6th Avenue;
Topeka, Kansas 66615 [1]
Coordinates39°3′22″N 95°46′33″W / 39.05611°N 95.77583°W / 39.05611; -95.77583
TypeState historical museum
AccreditationAmerican Alliance of Museums
OwnerKansas Historical Society
WebsiteMuseum website

The Kansas Museum of History is the state historical museum in Topeka, Kansas, United States.[1] It presents Kansas history from the prehistoric to modern eras in 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of exhibits. The galleries feature a train (Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe locomotive with two cars), full-sized tipi in the Southern Cheyenne style, a 1950s diner, and many other large features. Major topics covered in the main gallery include Native American tribal history, westward movement on the Oregon and Santa Fe trails, early settlers, the Bleeding Kansas and Civil War eras, and Populism at the turn of the 20th century.[2][3]

History

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Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway #132 (which had been renumbered ATSF 2414), near the end of its service life in the 20th century, before restoration.
ATSF 132, after restoration and renaming it ATSF 1, the "Cyrus K. Holliday," after the railroad's founder. The railroad donated the engine to the museum where it is now on display. The restoration included many of the engine's 1800s engineering elements such as a diamond stack, box headlight and wooden pilot (cowcatcher).

The museum is a division of the Kansas Historical Society, which was founded in 1875 by Kansas newspaper editors and publishers. Its first home was in the Kansas State Capitol.

The current museum building was built in 1980s to house the Society's object collections and exhibits. Dubbed the Kansas Museum of History, it opened in 1984 at an 80-acre (320,000 m2) site in west Topeka near the historic Potawatomi Mission.[1] In addition to galleries, the building also houses a museum store, classrooms, and labs for conservation and exhibit fabrication.

The museum building was designed by Schaefer & Associates PA, Wichita architects.[4]

In the mid-1990s, the rest of the Society's divisions moved to the new Center for Historical Research adjacent to the museum. Today the complex includes nature trails, an education and conference center, and a historic one-room school used for educational programs.

The museum's most popular programs include its changing exhibits schedule, the Cool Things section of the website (featuring interesting objects from the collections), and the related Cool Things podcasts.

In September 2022, the Kansas Museum of History closed for a renovation,[5][6] which was originally supposed to be completed in early 2024.[7] Afterward, it took several months to remove 2,500 to 3,000 artifacts from the building.[6] The project included adding a new ramp and moving the special-exhibit area,[8] and the galleries were rearranged based on theme, rather than the original chronological format.[5][9] The Kansas Historical Society raised about $6 million to fund the renovation,[6][8] but the project was delayed because another $904,000 was needed to pay for engineering costs.[10] The museum's reopening was subsequently postponed to November 2025.[11][12]

Galleries

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The museum gallery sections were formerly grouped by chronological order:[2][3]

  • 5000 b.c. to 1820 a.d. - Early People.
  • 1820 to 1860 a.d. - Trails.
  • 1861 to 1865 a.d. - Civil War.
  • 1865 to 1880 a.d. - Settling the Frontier.
  • 1880 to 1900 a.d. - Trains and Towns.
  • 1900 to 1940 a.d. - Early 20th Century.
  • 1940 to 1990 a.d. - Recent Past.
  • Special Exhibits.

Important exhibited objects include:[2]

The museum's collection includes a steam locomotive and a log cabin.[9] The museum also holds one of the United States' largest collections of Civil War flags from African American regiments. At least one of these flags is always on display in the main gallery.[citation needed]

Awards and honors

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The Kansas Museum of History's main gallery and changing exhibits have won numerous Awards of Merit, the highest honor bestowed by the American Association for State and Local History. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) details for Kansas Museum of History; United States Geological Survey (USGS); December 8, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c Museum - Exhibits; Kansas Museum of History.>
  3. ^ a b Gallery Map; Kansas Museum of History.
  4. ^ David H. Sachs and George Ehrlich, Guide to Kansas Architecture (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1996): 128.
  5. ^ a b Jones, Shayn (February 29, 2024). "Kansas Museum of History set to reopen in 2025 after renovations". WIBW. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Storm, Alyssa (August 8, 2024). "Kansas Museum of History gets new look, set to open in 2025". KSN-TV. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  7. ^ Wingo, Alyssa (July 18, 2022). "Topeka museum will soon close for a year and a half". KSNT 27 News. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Decatur, Claire (March 26, 2025). "Kansas Museum of History renovations start to take shape, projected to open fall 2025". WIBW. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Dome, AJ (February 17, 2025). "Kansas Museum of History on track to reopen in fall with renovations nearly complete • Kansas Reflector". Kansas Reflector. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  10. ^ Self, Matthew (February 24, 2025). "Need for $900,000 pushes opening of Kansas Museum of History back by months". KSNT 27 News. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  11. ^ Decatur, Claire (July 1, 2025). "Kansas Museum of History announces reopening date, showcases new mural". WIBW. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  12. ^ Hrenchir, Tim (July 11, 2025). "When Kansas Museum of History will reopen after renovation closure". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved July 15, 2025.

Further reading

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  • "Building the Kansas Museum of History", Kansas History, Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 1984. Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society, 40–45.
  • "Voices from the Heartland: A Kansas Legacy", The Public Historian, Vol. 12, No. 1, Winter 1990. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California, 123–127.
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