Virtual Library Museums World museums Search

Please mail museumca@museumca.org if you know of relevant on-line information not included here.

This page includes an eclectic collection of World Wide Web services connected with museums, galleries and archives in the USA. Due to the number of museums, those in the rest of the world are on a separate page.

You are virtual "visitor" number:

USA

The following US museums have their own WWW servers (and as such tend to have more comprehensive information and exhibits):

1. American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
2. American Computer Museum, Bozeman, Montana, USA.
3. Art Museum, San Jose State University, California. Includes a growing searchable database of cultural photographs from around the world accessable in a number of ways.
4. Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama.
5. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii. The State Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Pacific anthropology, botany, entomology and zoology. Includes on-line exhibits.
6. Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio.
7. California Museum of Photography, University of California, Riverside. Includes network exhibitions.
8. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
9. Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburg, Philadelphia. Hands-on exhibits, including a miniature railroad and village, Omnimax theater, interactive planetarium, World War II submarine.
10. Chicago Academy of Sciences Nature Museum.
11. Children's Discovery Museum, San Jose, California.
12. Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Ohio.
13. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Historic capital of 18th century Virginia.
14. The Computer Museum, Boston, Massachusetts. See the walk-through computer.
15. DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts.
16. Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan.
17. Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville. See on-line searchable collection databases.
18. Franklin Institute Virtual Science Museum, Philadelphia. Includes virtual exhibits.
19. Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
20. Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan. Largest US indoor/outdoor museum complex, founded by Henry Ford in 1929, presenting change and innovation in American life.
21. Heritage Map Museum, Lititz, Pennsylvania. 15th to 19th century antique maps. Includes maps for sale.
22. Historic New Orleans Collection, Louisiana.
23. Jimmy Stewart Museum, Indiana, Pennsylvania. Based at the actor's birthplace. See virtual tour.
24. J. Paul Getty Trust: Getty Art History Information Program. A choice of large images (slow) or minimal images is given.
25. Illinois State Museum, Springfield. Natural history, anthropology, art, and natural/cultural history of Illinois. Includes on-line exhibits.
26. Inventure Place, Akron, Ohio. The National Inventors Hall of Fame.
27. Laserium, Boston/Denver/Los Angeles/San Francisco.
28. Library of Congress, Washington DC. On-line exhibits.
29. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California.
30. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. One of the largest art museums in the world. See the collections and museum shop.
31. Miami Museum of Science, Florida.
32. Mount Vernon, Virginia. The home of the first US President, George Washington.
33. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts.
34. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.
35. Museum of Health and Medical Science, Houston, Texas.
36. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City. See menu including the collection and current exhibitions.
37. Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley. See collection catalogs and the hall of dinosaurs.
38. Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts.
39. Museum of Television & Radio, New York.
40. Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, Connecticut.
41. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California.
42. New England Science Center, Massachusetts. Museum and wildlife center.
43. Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York City. Paintings by Russian-born artist Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947). (French, Spanish, German and Russian information planned.)
44. Old Stubridge Village. Re-creates life in a New England town of the 1830s.
45. Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon.
46. Pacific Science Center, Seattle, Washington. Includes an IMAX theater.
47. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. USA's oldest continuously operating museum, founded in 1799. Maritime arts and history; American decorative arts; early American architecture; Asian export art; Asian, Oceanic, African arts and culture; natural history; native American arts and archaeology.
48. Polynesian Cultural Center, Laie, North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.
49. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland, Ohio. Includes multimedia audio, video and photographs.
50. Rockwood Museum, Wilmington, Delaware. House and grounds of the Bringhurst family.
51. San Francisco Exploratorium. Includes on-line exhibits. See Diving Into the Gene Pool, a major exhibition from April 8 to September 4, 1995.
52. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. See a selection of works from the permanent collection.
53. Sciencenter, Ithaca, New York.
54. Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond.
55. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. (Now second sourced by SGI after a major reorganization of the WWW pages.) Includes:
    • List of Smithsonian places and an overview of Smithsonian Institution museums
    • New and temporary exhibitions at the Smithsonian
    • National Air and Space Museum. Includes exhibition galleries. See also the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies.
    • National Museum of American Art. See The White House Collection of American Craft exhibition. Includes much audio and video material. See also Gopher site.
    • National Museum of the American Indian.
    • National Museum of Natural History. See Ocean Planet, a travelling exhibition.
    • National Zoological Park.
    See also Yahoo links and Gem & Mineral Collection.
56. Stephen Birch Aquarium-Museum, San Diego, California.
57. Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California. Includes HyperTech on-line interactive exhibits.
58. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC.
59. University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (UAM/PFA), University of California at Berkeley.
60. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. Archaeological, ethnographic and photographic collections.
61. University of Washington Fish Collection, Seattle, Washington. Includes a search gateway to the collection database (30,000 records).

1. Alaska State Museums. Alaska State Museum, Juneau, and Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka.
2. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio. 17th century Dutch, Japanese prints, Renaissance and Baroque prints, modern European and contemporary American art.
3. American Precision Museum, Windsor, Vermont. Guns, typewriters, machine tools, sewing machines, etc.
4. Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.
5. Arizona Science Center, Phoenix.
6. Art Institute of Chicago. Museum and art school.
7. Aspen Art Museum, Colorado. Contemporary art.
8. Baltimore Museum of Industry, Maryland. In an 1870 oyster cannery by the inner harbor.
9. Bellingham Antique Radio Museum, Bellingham, Washington, USA.
10. Berea College Museum, Berea, Kentucky. Gallery V. History and culture of the Appalachian region.
11. California Surf Museum, Oceanside. International repository and resource center on the lifestyle sport of surfing.
12. Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
13. Chula Vista Nature Center, Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, California. Flora and fauna.
14. City of Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, California.
15. Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.
16. Connecticut State Museum of Natural History.
17. Dallas Museum of Art, Texas.
18. David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago.
19. The Discovery Museums, Acton, Massachusetts. See the Children's Museum and Science Museum.
20. Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. See also Poe Museum, Richmond, Virginia.
21. Estes Park Area Historical Museum, Colorado.
22. Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium, St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
23. Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine. American art.
24. Florida International Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida.
25. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. See exhibits, including moving images and sound, and 3-D if you have a Silicon Graphics workstation. Probably the best use of multimedia via WWW by a museum so far.
26. Firehouse Museum, San Diego, California. Fire-fighting equipment, including a photographic exhibit.
27. Guggenheim Museum, New York City. Art museum. Outposts in Bilbao, Spain and Venice, Italy.
28. Hall of Health, Berkeley, California. Community health-education museum and science center, especially for children and families.
29. Hands On Children's Museum, Olympia, Washington.
30. Harvard University Art Museums. Fogg Art Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum.
31. Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona. Specializes in contemporary and archaeological Native American material.
32. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia. Contemporary art, decorative arts, American and European painting, African art, folk art, and photography.
33. Historical Museum of Southern Florida, Miami. See special exhibitions.
34. History Museum of Santa Cruz County, California.
35. Houston Museum of Natural Science, Texas.
36. Hudson Valley Children's Museum (HVCM). A new hands-on museum for children aged 1-12, Nyack, New York.
37. Impress 5 Science Center, Lansing, Michigan. Hands-on science and technology center.
38. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana.
39. International Children's Art Museum, World Trade Center, San Francisco.
40. Intel Museum, Santa Clara, California. Computer chip manufacturer.
41. International Museum of the Horse, Lexington, Kentucky. History, special exhibitions, etc. Over 300 on-line pages.
42. Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum, USS Intrepid aircraft carrier, New York Harbor.
43. Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan. Includes exhibit galleries and collection.
44. Kingston Trolley Museum of New York. Antique trolleys, ride along the majestic Hudson River.
45. Korean American Museum of Art and Cultural Center, Los Angeles.
46. Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
47. The Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia.
48. Menil Collection, Houston, Texas. Antiquities, African, oceanic, modern and contemporary painting and sculpture.
49. Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Ancient Americas, Egypt and Near East; prints and drawings; Asia; Greece and Rome; sub-Saharan African.
50. Michigan Historical Museum, Lansing. Includes information on a number of Michigan Historical Center satellite sites.
51. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota. Fine arts museum.
52. MIT Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
53. Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey.
54. Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, Vermont. Hands-on museum on natural and physical sciences, ecology, and technology.
55. Museum of Bad Art, Boston.
56. Museum of Biological Diversity, College of Biological Sciences, Ohio State University. Insect collection.
57. Museum of Broadcast Communications, Chicago.
58. Museum of the City of New York. History of New York City.
59. Museum of Fine Arts, University of Montana, Missoula.
60. Museum of Flying, Santa Monica, California. World War II fighter aircraft.
61. Museum of Natural History, University of Oregon, Eugene. Includes the Oregon State Museum of Anthropology.
62. Museum of Natural History & Cormack Planetarium, Providence, Rhode Island.
63. Museum of Political Life, University of Hartford, Connecticut. Political memorabilia.
64. Museum of Radio and Technology, Huntington, West Virginia, USA. Antique radios.
65. Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), Tampa, Florida. The largest science center in south-east USA.
66. Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles, California. Racism and prejudice in America, and the history of the Holocaust. (Information also in German and Japanese.)
67. National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, Tennessee.
68. National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
69. Newseum. The world's only major museum dedicated exclusively to news, in the Freedom Forum World Center, Arlington, Virginia.
70. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
71. Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida. Strong in the French and American Impressionist and Post Impressionist periods, Chinese artifacts, ceramics and statuary.
72. The Oakland Museum of California. Large regional museum, devoted to Californian art, history and ecology.
73. Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, Portland.
74. Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago. See highlights from the collection.
75. Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University.
76. Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas. Preservation of northwest Texas heritage.
77. Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University.
78. Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, Washington, Pennsylvania. About 25 trolleys on display, dating from 1894. See also Interchange Yard rail links.
79. Peregrine International Museum of Scouting, Greenback, Tennessee.
80. Philadelphia Museum of Art.
81. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. Collections include native American and regional contemporary art.
82. Pueblo Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
83. Railroad Museum of Long Island, Greenport, New York.
84. Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Pennsylvania.
85. Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center, San Diego. See also here.
86. Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose, California. Designed in an authentic Egyptian architectural style. Large collections of Egyptian, Babylonian and Assyrian antiquities.
87. St. Louis Science Center, Missouri.
88. San Diego Aerospace Museum, California. See history of aerospace exhibit.
89. San Diego Model Railroad Museum, California. Includes principle exhibits.
90. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California.
91. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, California. (See also here.)
92. Science Discovery Center of Oneonta, State University College, Oneonta, New York. A hands-on science museum for all ages.
93. Science Museum of Minnesota. Maya Adventure, including anthropological collections and educational activities.
94. Seattle Art Museum, Washington.
95. Shelburne Museum, Vermont. Early American life and culture. See the tour of the collections.
96. Slater Museum of Natural History, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington.
97. Southwest Museum, Los Angeles, California.
98. Strecker Museum Complex, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
99. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Chattanooga.
100. University of Alaska Museum. Natural and cultural heritage.
101. University of Arkansas Museum, Fayetteville. Anthropology, archeology, ethnology, history, geology, zoology.
102. University Art Museum, Albany, New York.
103. University of Georgia Museum of Natural History.
104. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Medical Museum. Includes an exhibit of historic microscopes.
105. University of Arizona Museum of Art. Includes a Permanent Gallery Exhibition.
106. University of Memphis, Institute of Egyptian Art and Archeology. See Egyptian artefacts exhibit.
107. Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City. Includes the natural history of genes.
108. Valley Forge Historical Society Museum. See George Washington at Valley Forge.
109. Virginia Discovery Museum, Charlottesville. For children and families.
110. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City. See also Hollywood Archaeology artist's WWW project.
111. William Hammond Mathers Museum, Departments of Anthropology, Folklore, and History, Indiana University.
112. Wright Museum, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. A museum of American enterprize.
113. Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne.
114. Yakima Valley Museum, Washington. Historical displays, including natural history, Native American culture, fruit industry, early pioneer life, and horse-drawn vehicles.

• Charles Babbage Institute, Center for the History of Information Processing, University of Minnesota. Includes information on archives collection and oral history interviews.

• Baltimore Railroad Museum.
• Illinois Railway Museum, Chicago.
• Museum of Flight, Seattle.
• National Knife Museum, Tennessee.
• Portola Railroad Museum, California.

• Charlotte, The Vermont Whale. An electronic museum.
• Dali Virtual Museum of Art, dedicated to the Surrealist artist Salvador Dali.
• Diego Rivera Web Museum, dedicated to the Mexican muralist painter Diego Rivera (1886-l957). (Also in Spanish.)
• Electronic Museum of Mail Art (EMMA).
• Electronic Prehistoric Shark Museum. Includes fossil shark teeth, with photographs and descriptions, and further paleontology information and links. (Warning: no lifeguards. Surf at your own risk!)
• Eniac Virtual Museum, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania.
• Escher's Art Museum. The graphic work of M.C. Escher.
• Graphion's Online Type Museum. History and practice of typesetting.
• Historical Speech Collection at Webcorp. Includes Richard Nixon audio archive, Joe McCarthy, Chamberlain, Hitler, and the civil rights era. See also Holiday Snaps of Asia, USA, etc., with audio comments.
• Honolulu Community College. Dinosaur exhibit.
• Internet Arts Museum for free (IAMfree). On-line music, art and literature museum.
• Kennedy Space Center, NASA.
• Leonardo da Vinci Museum.
• Los Alamos National Laboratory. Views Of The Solar System exhibit.
• Museum of HP Calculators.
• Museum of Obsolete Computers.
• Museum of the Internet, from the Internet Society. Under development! See also the Internauts Gallery.
• Net in Arcadia. A virtual museum dedicated to contemporary classicism.
• Pacific Rim Museum of Culture, Kulshan Middle School, Bellingham, Washington.
• Photo Perspectives. An interactive photography museum, designed to allow the public direct access to publications and museum quality exhibitions on-line.
• Retrocomputing Museum. Dedicated to programming languages, emulators, computer games, etc. Includes documentation and example programs.
• SJSU Virtual Museum, San Jose State University, California. The history of science, mathematics and technology, feauturing individual scientists and mathematicians.
• University of Michigan. Papyrus collection.
• Virtual Computer History Museum, planned by the Historical Computer Society.
• White House Virtual Tours, Washington. Includes The White House - A Living Museum.

See also the following lists of museums:

• Baltimore.
• Iowa.
• Kansas.
• Los Angeles.
• New England (under construction).
• New York City (see also here including a comprehensive list).
• Philadelphia.
• San Diego.
• San Francisco including fine arts museums.
• San Francisco Bay Area.
• San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Santa Barbara.
• Southern Utah University including Archaeology Repository, Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, and Natural History Museum of Southern Utah.
• Virginia.
• USA museums detailed information and art museums resources in North America from World Wide Arts Resources.
• Art Museum Network, North America.
• Other USA museum information.