John Wayne Museum

This is a must visiting for any fan of movies, Hollywood, westerns or the Duke. I was raised in Illinois on Duke Wayne movies. I'm a third generation fan and it's a honor to come from the Midwest like this icon. The museum is very easy to get to in the Stockyard District of Fort Worth and admission is very affordable. There's even discounts if you qualify. The museum itself is very guest friendly and very easy to navigate. If if you're not too familiar with the Duke the museum tour starts with a short intro narrated by John Wayne's youngest son Ethan. Be prepared to be taken back if you're a fan to some good memories. The museum features over 4,000 artifacts of his life and career. I loved the wardrobe displays. The gift shop is a must at the end. I hope this testimonial is enough to motivate you to go visit. Thank you. Michael J Beal Clearwater, Florida

I can't believe I finally made it here! This place is absolutely amazing!!! I spent 4 hours inside and still didn't get to read and watch everything. It was only $25.00 a person and the ticket is good for all day. There are other shops to see and entertainment of all kinds that is within just 3-5 minutes walking. After walking for a bit and taking in the sites, I was back in the John Wayne Museum on the same ticket for the rest of my day at the stock yard.

This is a piece of Americana that I fully recommend you plan to visit when in Fort Worth, Texas! It's located just outside the Cowtown Coliseum and easily accessible by all. The museum is presented by one of John Wayne's sons and it contains many personal items from his late dad. Most importantly is John Wayne's life accomplishments and why he really represents our beautiful and beloved America! It takes an hour or so to go through all the information, stories and short videos, which represent his life in total. I recommend you purchase your tickets on line for best prices.

If you love John Wayne you'll enjoy your visit here, but I warn you the ticket price is a little pricey for just a walking tour of personal memorabilia. I did expect more videos or stuff to interact with. If I didn't make myself stop and read things I could have been finished with the tour in about 10 min. However, they do have the finest John Wayne collection I've ever seen. Give it a try if you're in town visiting.

This is a nice exhibit on the life and accomplishments of John Wayne. It has a lot of information, movie props, costumes and memorabilia on display including his Oscar for "True Grit."Personal letters from other well-knowns and fans plus other belongings are in display cases along with walls of movie info and photos. I had a great time here. If you're interested in details you can spend 60 to 90 minutes taking it all in. There's a souvenir shop at the end but things are overpriced.

Heads up about parking: it will cost. There is no free parking that's close by this museum. Unless you park WAY out and walk far away. We ended up paying $10 because today, 3/18/23, was a special event. I think it's normally $5 though. It was packed! There was a Patrick's Day parade and different various events. But we kept trudging along to find a place to park because I wanted to get to the Duke Spirits tasting and book signing event today only! We got to sample #GoldHandleCoffee mixed with #DukeSpirits which was strong but delicious. We even got to keep the special tin cup as a souvenir, very generous! Today the store was also having a sale on goods in front of the museum. Inside the exhibit, there are a lot of letters from friends of John Wayne. It interesting just how many people had such delightful things to say to the Duke. I loved seeing outfits from his movies on display and facts about his life/career. There aren't any interactive displays, so I wouldn't recommend for children even though they do sell children tickets. Also there are no restrooms. Stop by for a visit if you're a John Wayne fan, very nostalgic!

If you love John Wayne, you'll love this museum. Placed right down in the Stockyards area, and down the street from Billy Bobs. Unpin entry, it's clear they have taken his movie and life seriously. We found out that it is John Wayne's youngest son that owns the museum. There are tons of hats, props, complete movie costumes, movie scripts, vehicles, guns, and so much more. Many personal writings between Wayne and people from everyday fans to people that only the Duke would have access to. Presidents, movie and sports stars, you name it. Large groupings of photos and interactive displaces about some movies he made. The ladies working in the museum/shop are all very helpful and knowledgeable. They were sharing how much more of the JW collection they still had in storage. Their plan is to rotate in different exhibits every few months, to keep the museum fresh, and fun if you return. In fact, they were about to bring in the NRA's collection of John Wayne's gun that they own. They will be loaned as an exhibit for a while this year. This is also a fun place to take families of all ages. Might get to introduce the children to the Duke that way Great museum

This museum is done very well. There are a tone of pictures, archives, movie clips, and John Wayne's personal items. Even if you aren't a big JW fan the museum is informational and interesting. There is also a very nice gift shop. The staff was friendly and informative.

I was pleasantly surprised when finding out a few months ago that this museum had recently opened. Being a John Wayne fan all of my life and with me living relatively nearby I made it a point to visit on my next trip to the DFW area. Last week I made that happen.It's located in the famous Fort Worth Stockyards entertainment district and while parking in the area is plentiful it all requires a cost. The best bet for visiting this museum is the $5 lot across from Coopers Old Time BBQ which is about a 250 yard walk to the museum. Inside you enter passing walls with some great pictures of movie stars on movie sets that leads you into the large gift shop where you can buy tickets. Adult tickets are $22 and kids $18 so it ain't cheap coming here. I walked in and bought my ticket but during busier times they do have timed admission tickets that can be purchased online. You start with viewing a 3 minute movie and then proceed through galleries with numerous pictures, storyboards, artifacts, etc. for you to view. I really enjoyed visiting this museum and saw many things about him that I had never seen before. It's all indoors and of course air conditioned and the staff was very friendly. I found particularly interesting a display of still unopened letters in mail bags from fans that were mailed to him after his death. There were just so many his family couldn't open them all! Another interesting exhibit to see that's actually in the gift shop is from another western hero, Roy Rogers. This museum acquired from his (Rogers) museum when it closed a few years ago the taxidermied bodies of his horse Trigger and his dog Bullet. My only reason for not giving this museum (owned by the Wayne family) 5 stars is twofold. First there are several display cases in the museum that showcase letters, awards, etc. that are protected in clear acrylic for you to observe. However many of the display cases are much taller than they need to be to cover whatever is inside. This makes it difficult to read a letter that Duke wrote to someone famous or that someone famous wrote him or other certificates, awards, etc. The display cases don't let you get close enough to easily read what's inside them especially from the top. The second reason is that the ticket prices and especially the gift shop are too expensive in my opinion. I understand that the family wants to make money from The Duke (who died about 45 years ago) but I think these prices will hurt admission and furthering his popularity especially to newer fans.This museum may be the top tourist draw in The Stockyards and if you visit it, I think you will like it. Budget about 1 hour to go through it all and longer if you like to read.

Such a cool little museum in a charming downtown area! I would definitely go back again! People were friendly, and there were lots of things to see and read.