List of museums in Delaware facts for kids
This list of museums in Delaware contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing.
Current museums
| Name | Location | County | Area of study | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Mobility Command Museum | Dover Air Force Base | Kent | Military | Military airlift and air refueling aircraft |
| Amstel House | New Castle | New Castle | Historic house | Operated by the New Castle Historical Society, 1730s Georgian mansion linked to many of the town’s prominent colonial families |
| Anna Hazzard Museum | Rehoboth Beach | Sussex | History | 1890s camp meeting history |
| Barratt's Chapel and Museum | Frederica | Kent | Religious | 1780 Methodist chapel and museum about history of Methodism |
| Bethany Beach History Museum | Bethany Beach | Sussex | Local history | website, located in Bethany Town Hall |
| Bethel Heritage Museum | Bethel | Sussex | Open air | Historic village |
| Biggs Museum of American Art | Dover | Kent | Art | American fine and decorative arts, part of First State Heritage Park |
| Blue Ball Barn | Wilmington | New Castle | Art | A.I. du Pont barn with state collection of folk art, located in Alapocas Run State Park |
| Bridgeville Historical Society Museum | Bridgeville | Sussex | Local history | |
| Cannonball House Maritime Museum | Lewes | Sussex | Maritime | website, maritime artifacts, operated by the Lewes Historical Society |
| Center for the Creative Arts | Yorklyn | New Castle | Community art | website, community instruction center with 410 Gallery of local art |
| Coverdale Farm Preserve | Greenville | New Castle | Farm | website, 19th-century operating farm and preserve, operated by the Delaware Nature Society |
| Days Gone By Museum | Seaford | Sussex | Local history | Local history, antique tractors, carpenter's tools and other artifacts |
| Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village | Dover | Kent | Agriculture | website, includes Loockerman Landing Village, a representation of a rural village in 1890s with a store, farmhouse, schoolhouse and other building; farm equipment and tools, collection of carved folk art farm scenes, local art exhibits |
| Delaware Art Museum | Wilmington | New Castle | Art | Contains over 12,000 works focusing on American art and illustration from the 19th to the 21st century as well as the English Pre-Raphaelite movement of the mid-19th century |
| Delaware Aviation Museum | Georgetown | Sussex | Aviation | website, located at Delaware Coastal Airport, features WWII aviation artifacts, memorabilia and displays |
| Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts | Wilmington | New Castle | Art | Presents nearly 30 exhibitions annually of regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized contemporary artists |
| Delaware Center for Horticulture | Greenville | New Castle | Natural history | Community horticulture resource organization with public gardens, library and art gallery |
| Delaware Children's Museum | Wilmington | New Castle | Children's | website, located on Wilmington Riverfront |
| Delaware History Museum | Wilmington | New Castle | History | Operated by the Delaware Historical Society, cultural and historical Delaware exhibits, including everyday life artifacts, costumes, children's toys, regional decorative arts, and paintings |
| Delaware Mineralogical Society | Wilmington | New Castle | Natural history | Non-profit organization promoting education in earth science and lapidary art, annual show first full weekend in March hosting museum and educational exhibits |
| Delaware Museum of Nature and Science | Greenville | New Castle | Natural history | Features collections of seashells, birds, and bird eggs, exhibits on dinosaurs, mammals, and Charles Darwin |
| Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame | Wilmington | New Castle | Hall of fame – sports | Over 150 years of Delaware sports history, located at Frawley Stadium |
| Delaware Legislative Hall | Dover | Kent | History | State capitol building, open for guided tours |
| Delaware State Police Museum | Dover | Kent | Law enforcement | website, history of the Delaware State Police, badges, uniforms, vehicles |
| Delaware Visitor Center and Galleries | Dover | Kent | Local history | Delaware history and culture, part of First State Heritage Park |
| Delmar Depot Railroad and Military Museum | Delmar | Sussex | Railroad | |
| Discover Sea Shipwreck Museum | Fenwick Island | Sussex | Maritime | website, shipwreck and recovered artifacts both regional and worldwide |
| Dutch House (New Castle, Delaware) | New Castle | New Castle | Historic house | website, operated by the New Castle Historical Society, 17th-century early Delaware settlers' house |
| Elsie Williams Doll Collection | Georgetown | Sussex | Doll | website, located at Delaware Technical Community College (Jack F. Owens Campus), Stephen J. Betze Library; over 600 dolls from around the world |
| Fenwick Island Light | Fenwick Island | Sussex | Lighthouse | Small museum of the history of the lighthouse |
| First Presbyterian Church | Wilmington | New Castle | History | 18th-century Presbyterian church, operated by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America |
| Fort Delaware | Pea Patch Island | New Castle | Military | Historic fort with living history demonstrations |
| Georgetown Train Station | Georgetown | Sussex | Railroad | website, operated by the Historic Georgetown Association, restored 19th-century train station with model railroad layout |
| Governor Ross Mansion & Plantation | Seaford | Sussex | Historic house | Operated by the Seaford Historical Society; 1850s-period Victorian Italianate mansion with a slave quarter |
| Greenbank Mill | Wilmington | New Castle | Living | Includes the gristmill restoration, Madison Factory textile mill, Philips House, and the 19th-century farm with heritage livestock |
| Hagley Museum & Library | Wilmington | New Castle | History | Exhibits the unfolding history of American enterprise and is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E.I. du Pont in 1802 |
| Hale-Byrnes House | Stanton | New Castle | Historic house | 1750 historic house |
| Harrington Historical Society Museum | Harrington | Kent | Local history | Local memorabilia; also operates the Harrington Tower Railroad Museum nearby with a railroad tower, caboose and watchman’s hut |
| Harry Levin Center for Pharmacy & History | Smyrna | Kent | Medical | website, pharmacy history center started by founder of Happy Harry's drug stores and run by Delaware Pharmacists Society |
| Historic Houses of Odessa | Odessa | New Castle | Historic house | website, enclave of 18th- and early 19th-century buildings which includes the Corbit-Sharp House (c. 1774), Wilson-Warner House (c. 1769), Collins-Sharp House (c. 1700), Brick Hotel (c. 1822), and Odessa Bank (c. 1853) |
| Indian River Lifesaving Station Museum | Rehoboth Beach | Sussex | Maritime | Located in Delaware Seashore State Park |
| Iron Hill Museum | Newark | New Castle | History / Natural history | Former one-room schoolhouse built by the du Pont family in 1923; collections include rocks, minerals, floral and faunal specimens, archeological and historical displays, mounted birds and iron exhibits |
| John Bell House | Dover | Kent | Local history | Interpretive center for the First State Heritage Park |
| John Dickinson Plantation | Dover | Kent | Historic house | 18th-century home of John Dickinson |
| Johnson Victrola Museum | Dover | Kent | Biographical | Part of First State Heritage Park, exhibits about Eldridge Reeves Johnson, founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company, including phonographs, recordings, memorabilia, trademarks, objects and paintings that highlight the development of the sound-recording industry |
| Laurel Heritage Museum | Laurel | Sussex | Local history | website, operated by the Laurel Historical Society in a restored trail station, also the Cook House Museum by appointment |
| Lewes Historical Society Complex | Lewes | Sussex | Open air | website, nine historic properties: Burton-Ingram House, Lewes Life-Saving Station Museum, Doctor's Office, Early Plank House, Ellegood House, Midway School #178, Rabbit's Ferry House, Thompson's Country Store |
| Lightship Overfalls | Lewes | Sussex | Maritime | Historic lightship museum |
| Marshall Steam Museum | Yorklyn | New Castle | Transportation | Part of Auburn Valley State Park, includes Stanley Steamer cars, electric cars, Packards, miniature railroad, locomotives, local history displays, Marshall Family Mansion |
| Marvel Carriage Museum | Georgetown | Sussex | Transportation | website, collection of antique carriages as well as many original, restored buildings, Victrolas, ephemera, photographs, telephones, furniture and many more items related to Georgetown; open by appointment; operated by the Georgetown Historical Society |
| Messick Museum | Harrington | Sussex | Agriculture | website, includes antique John Deere tractors, antique machinery, automobiles, tools, toys and farming memorabilia |
| Milford Museum | Milford | Sussex | Local history | website; model ships; silver collection of coins, spoons, and novelties; early settlement of Milford; the city's variety of architecture; prominent citizens; artifacts; photographs; and historical memorabilia |
| Milton Historical Society Museum | Milton | Sussex | Local history | website, history of Milton and the Broadkill Hundred, art gallery |
| Museum of Business History & Technology | Wilmington | New Castle | History | website, history about innovations in business technology, open by appointment |
| Nanticoke Indian Museum | Millsboro | Sussex | Native American | website, history of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe, jewelry, pottery, spears, arrow points, artifacts |
| Nemours Mansion and Gardens | Wilmington | New Castle | Mansion | A.I. duPont's mansion and French chateau-style grounds |
| Newark Historical Society Museum | Newark | New Castle | Local history | website, history of Newark and Delaware, museum open Sunday afternoons on a seasonal basis |
| New Castle Court House Museum | New Castle | New Castle | History | One of the oldest surviving court houses in the United States, exhibits about Delaware's colonial court and assembly, Delaware's Underground Railroad and abolitionists, and the early system of law and government |
| Old State House | Dover | Kent | History | Delaware's old state capitol building, restored for 18th-century appearance |
| Old Library Museum | New Castle | New Castle | Local history | website, operated by the New Castle Historical Society, changing exhibits of local history |
| Old Swedes Church | Wilmington | New Castle | History | Church building constructed in 1698–1699 |
| Old Town Hall | Wilmington | New Castle | Historic site | Open by appointment with the Delaware Historical Society, the hall housed the city's meeting chambers, offices and jail |
| Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art | Newark | New Castle | Art | Works by African American artists, part of the University of Delaware |
| Parson Thorne Mansion | Milford | Kent | Historic house | Operated by the Milford Historical Society |
| Pencader Heritage Museum | Newark | New Castle | Local history | website, operated by the Pencader Heritage Area Association |
| Read House & Gardens | New Castle | New Castle | Historic house | 1801 mansion with 22 rooms, operated by the Delaware Historical Society |
| Rehoboth Art League | Rehoboth Beach | Sussex | Art | website, institution founded by Louise C. Corkran |
| Rehoboth Beach Museum | Rehoboth Beach | Sussex | Local history | website, operated by the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society |
| Robinson House | Claymont | New Castle | Historic house | 1723 house, home of the Claymont Historical Society and the Darley Society |
| Rockwood Museum and Park | Wilmington | New Castle | Historic house | Restored Gilded Age mansion and historic landscape garden, located in Rockwood Park |
| Seaford Fire Museum | Seaford | Sussex | Firefighting | website, fire memorabilia related to the history of the Seaford Volunteer Fire Department |
| Seaford Museum | Seaford | Sussex | Local history | website, operated by the Seaford Historical Society |
| Smyrna Museum | Smyrna | Kent | Local history | website, operated by the Duck Creek Historical Society, period rooms, history of The Barracks, now the museum |
| Star Hill Museum | Camden | Kent | African American | Former AME church, site on the Underground Railroad, reproduction inventions by African-Americans, African artifacts, utensils used in daily slave life |
| Treasures of the Sea Exhibit | Georgetown | Sussex | Maritime | website, located at Delaware Technical Community College (Jack F. Owens Campus), Stephen J. Betze Library; artifacts from the shipwreck Nuestra Señora de Atocha |
| University Gallery | Newark | New Castle | Art | Part of the University of Delaware, photographs, prints, drawings, paintings and ceramics |
| University of Delaware Mineralogical Museum | Newark | New Castle | Geology | Part of the University of Delaware, minerals, petrified wood, meteorites, DuPont collection of gemstones |
| Willingtown Square | Wilmington | New Castle | Historic houses | Operated by the Delaware Historical Society, collection of four historic buildings, dating from 1748 to the early 19th century, which can be viewed from the outside, and changing local history exhibits in the Willingtown Square Gallery |
| Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library | Wilmington | New Castle | History | 950 acres (3.8 km2) with gardens, estate mansion with 175 period-room displays, museum galleries of fine and decorative arts, including American furniture, silver and metalwork, textiles and needlework, ceramics, glass, clock and woodworking shop displays |
| Woodburn | Dover | Kent | Historic house | Official residence of the governor of Delaware, dates back to 1798 |
| Zwaanendael Museum | Lewes | Sussex | History | Honors the 300th anniversary of Delaware's first European settlement, founded in 1631; local history exhibits |
Proposed museums
| Name | Location | County | Area of study | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afro-American Historical Society of Delaware | Wilmington | New Castle | African American | Proposed at Allied Kid Leather building in East Wilmington |
| Delaware Military Museum | Delaware City | New Castle | Military museum | website, proposed at Burton Hall building at Fort DuPont |
Defunct museums
- Delaware Archaeology Museum, Dover, website
- Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum, Wilmington; closed in 2007 due to financial difficulty
- First USA Riverfront Arts Center, Wilmington; closed amid legal dispute in 1999; converted to Chase Convention Center
- Museum of the American Road, New Castle; moved to New London, Connecticut
- Museum of Small Town Life, Dover
- Velocipede Museum, New Castle
See also
- Botanical gardens in Delaware
- Forts in Delaware
- Historic landmarks in Delaware
- Houses in Delaware
- Nature Centers in Delaware
- Observatories in Delaware
- Registered Historic Places in Delaware
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List of museums in Delaware Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.