Amelia Island Museum of History

Small museum giving you a bit of history of the area I was fortunate to be there at the right time to actually get a 1 hour tour the the facility with a bit of history of the Islands history , well worth the time to learn more of the area

I like to get a little culture and history when I travel, so we stopped by here. I'd been hoping to take the historic trolley tour, but they weren't running so we came here to learn more about the area. It's a very small museum. You can easily walk through the rooms and displays in about an hour. And do stop to see the short movies that they show. We did hear part of the guide's tour that is included in the entrance fee. It's a bit heavy on the early history and all the different countries and flags that have controlled the island and Fernandina beach. It's definitely a bit much for young children to sit through. Still, if you're in the area for several days, it would be a good rainy day activity. And a supplement to the guide books.

Nice, small museum that covers a lot of the history of the island very nicely. Good gift shop also if you're so inclined. We made sure to get there during a docent-led tour (11 AM and 2 PM most days), and there was a crowd of about 12 of us on a weekday at 11 AM. Docent John covered a lot of the history from way back through the 1600's and a bit after that. Certainly a lot of information and detailed hisotry. Glad to pay $10/8 to support this local history and learn a bit in the process!

This museum provides an opportunity for visitors to learn about the history of Amelia Island. We were able to take one of the two tours offered ($8 per person) on a Thursday at 2:00 pm. Jane, our tour guide was fun, friendly, and knowledgeable.Jane provided an excellent narrative on the history of Amelia Island while walking us through each of the museum exhibits. Each exhibit represents a time in the history of the island. We learned that the Native Timucuan were the first to inhabit the island until the mid-16th century. Over the course of the next 300 years, the Island would be ruled by 8 different nations: France, Spain, Great Britain, Spain (again), The Republic of Florida, Mexico, the Confederate States of America, and the United States. This is why Amelia Island is known as the "Isle of 8 Flags".The museum is on the small side. To make the most of your experience, I recommend planning a visit when one of the tour guides are available. The tour lasted about 45 minutes but without a guide, we would have been in and out in 15 minutes. Overall, we enjoyed our time at the museum. I highly recommend stopping in here while spending time at Amelia Island.

We took the docent led tour of the museum and learned all sorts of interesting, fun historical facts about Amelia Island, the people who contributed something and the things every traveler should know when they visit Amelia Island. Housed in an old jail, the exhibits trace history from the native Indians up to present day time. Well worth our time to visit and learn some fun facts.

We came here August 2020 on a Thursday and we were The only people here which was kind of nice. We took the 2 pm tour and the lady gave us a hour-long informational speach about the eight flags. She did take us around to the different rooms and we were able to sit while she talked. We really enjoyed that informational speech. The cost to get into the museum is $8 a person which I think is a little expensive for this very small museum but that included the story about the eight flags and the history about Amelia Island. The speach is only given two times a day so check with them for the times.The museum is kind of small and dated. So I would say if you're going to come here make sure you do the speach so that you get your money's worth. At the end of the tour there is a cute little gift shop.Walking distance to the downtown shopping area.Plenty of parking in front of the museum and the parking is free.

We took our Girl Scout Troop here for both the museum and the ghost tour. I would give the museum a 3.5 star mostly because of the price and size of the museum and the ghost tour a 4 star.MUSEUM: Everything is on one level. Our scouts went through each room and punched cards. The museum is a former jail so there's a room with a jail cell for the kids to see. There's a lot of interactive areas for the kids to touch & read. They played dress up in the pirate room for a fun group picture. We completed the museum in just under hour which doesn't seem worth the $75 we paid in admission for the 5 adults/7 kids. PARKING: Small parking lot but it's a 5 minute walk to Centre Street which has various public parking options. We parked by the library and walked over. GHOST TOUR:Con: The person who sold us the ghost tour tickets gave our scout leader the wrong directions of where to meet for the ghost tour which resulted in us getting to the cemetery 15 minutes late with no tour guide to be found. Not a great thing after driving an hour to get to Amelia Island for the weekend. In hindsight, the meeting address was on the ghost tour ticket as well as on the website so it's our fault for not inspecting the ticket and solely relying on the instructions. However, the staff member also gave us a map of where to park which was not near the cemetery or church. Ghost Tour Pro: Our troop opted for the museum ghost tour since it was about half the price as another ghost tour we found online. Our guide Saturday (Veterans Day) was great and really made up for the misstep in directions. After missing the start of the tour, we asked a random local and found where the tour path should be. Much to our surprise, we found a group of half a dozen people and luckily it was our tour guide's group! Although we joined late, our guide stayed and walked us through the stops we missed at the beginning of the tour. Thank you so much for accommodating the troop especially since this excursion was funded by their hard earned cookie sales last year! Overall, our Girl Scouts enjoyed the stories and would recommend the ghost tour. Tip to the museum: (1) Consider including an after hours phone number on the ticket or, at minimum, a voice recording specifying where exactly to meet. (2) To help with costs for your guests, a bundle pricing option would be a great for groups visiting the museum AND opting for any of the tours. Tip to guests: Wear comfortable shoes for the ghost tour!

Ehhh. Kind of interesting...kind of not... We were literally the only ones in there, but were flagged down by the staff at the front and rudely asked to wear our masks properly. Yeah...no. If you are bored, you might want to check this place out, but I don't think it's worth the price of admission.

This is what we do when we travel, Spouse and I - we suss out local museums and soak up all the history we can hold. Most times these places aren't very exciting, but all of them reflect many hours of work and dedication from people who understand the importance of story. How the stories of a place are what make its past matter. All of which is preamble to our experience at the Amelia Island Museum of History - the example that completely blows our general rule out of the water. For this is a carefully researched, impeccably presented experience worth several hours. Lots of reading, although they do offer two docent-led tours daily if you'd rather take in your history by ear. From the earliest time of Spain, and France, the horrors of slavery, and the eight flags under which Amelia was ruled, through to the growth of fishing and then the shrimping industry, this museum gives in-dept explanations of it all, augmented with quotes from real people's lived experience. I had to take time out for tears after reading the text of a letter written by an enslaved African American woman who was close to starvation, reaching out to her husband who was engaged in fighting the Civil War. The Museum is housed in the old jail, and includes an actual cell and considerable information about what the prisoners were fed (not much, with even less nutrition) and what their experience must have been like. The steel doors that would have opened on the solitary confinement cells are chilling. On the positive side, I enjoyed very much the room housing a model of Old Town, where you push a button to hear an informative discussion of what that was like. The walls of this room are covered with large presentations about certain luminary individuals, including the woman abolitionist who came down from the area of Boston and started the first orphanage and school for African American children - and married a man who later became Governor of Florida. I was told that they have a great deal more material in storage, and have plans to expand the museum soon, to make the stories and the experience even richer. I know this Museum of History will be high on my list for a visit the next time we get to Amelia.

Great little museum. Be sure to get there around 11 or 2 for a tour with a docent. This area if full of interesting history. If you have children with you be sure to get the scavenger hunt card for them.