Kansas City Museum

Wow!! What an absolute treasure!!This museum is fantastic! We enjoyed a wonderful lecture by Bruce Matthews in the history of Washington Cemetery. We looked around the museum and enjoyed the artifacts. What a lovely experience. I didn't take many pictures because I was enamored by all the displays and learning about the Long family.

As someone who worked in the museum industry for more than a decade, I'd been watching the renovations on this place from afar, eagerly awaiting the final result. I finally got my chance to check it out recently and man, did they did a nice job. First of all, when you walk in it's simply gorgeous. They did a spectacular job restoring this mansion to its former glory and telling the story of the wealthy family that lived there. I love the modern entryway, the folks working were helpful, and I was stunned that this place is free to the public. C'mon Kansas City, we have it so good here when it comes to museums! Venture upstairs and you have a pretty good re-telling of KC history, along with an art gallery, and some extras. Only critique of the whole place is up here as I felt the gallery on the neighborhoods was a little out of touch with how Kansas Citians would define them, BUT, it's still overall good, and I'm sure there is a good reason it is the way it is. Finally, venture to the basement and you'll find an old fashioned soda shop - what? How fun. Overall, they did a stunning job with this renovation and it's well worth the visit for Kansas Citians and tourists alike.

We haven't been since the MM renovations. WOW it's breathtaking... the grounds, the interior restoration, the 1st floor exhibits, 2nd floor changing exhibits and 3rd floor movie!We did check out happy Hour on Thursday at the Elixer and yummmmmmm shared the bourbon peach cobbler Sunday-amazing!!!!!They also have events do check them out it it a delightful visit with history, beauty and great dods shop treat

We really enjoyed our visit here - it's a beautiful space with plenty of street parking (and admission is free). The exhibits are varied: sharing about the family who lived there, a little KC history, and some more current displays about local goings on. The space seems very well-maintained. I didn't visit as a kid, unlike other reviewers, so I don't have a basis for comparison. I liked the section on musical venues around the city and the library of Mr. Long best.

The customer service is supreme, everything in the menu is a 5 star adventure for taste I love it it's my favorite place in all Kansas City

The restoration of the Kansas City Museum obliterated all memory I have of this museum from my childhood. But it was exceedingly well done, and SO worth a visit. Today I only covered one floor of the areas restored to the opulence and grandeur of when it was home to the famous Long lumber family. But I will definitely go back to see the lower level, which is a re-creation of Mr. Long's billiard room, where are you can actually play billiards, and the two upper floors. It's a stunning building, inside and out. I wish I hadn't waited so long to revisit this memorable part of my childhood. I appreciated the beauty of it, and the history I never knew. I think anyone, but especially long-time Kansas City residents, would appreciate this historic renovation/restoration.

I used to live in the neighbourhood where the museum is . And I also went to the museum as a child and most of the art artefacts that were there back in the early 70s are gone . Someone made it into a gift shop and a coffee shop mostly now . the military ,Eskimo ,Indian Civil War , World War I & II artifacts are gone there was hardly anything history in the museum. Let alone any of the artifacts that I know used to be there. The same thing happened to the memorial in downtown Kansas City across the street from the union station. Someone is even shipped it off somewhere or sold it but it's the same thing. Somebody come in and cleaned house And exchanged it for change and junk. If you've never been there before I guess you wouldn't know but I'm 65 years old and I know what there was when I was a child in the world is going to hell in a handbasket

@kansascitymuseum is a beautiful and informative way to spend an afternoon. The first floor is all about the Long family who owned and built the home, the second floor is all KC history, the third floor is an art exhibition floor, and the basement has a billiard room (where you can play pool) & a future soda fountain shop. Once the cafe and soda fountain shop are open this will be a place that you can truly spend a full day exploring all about KC. Also plan time to walk around the neighborhood, there are some beautiful homes to look at.

This is a sad, sad, sad, remodel for what was once my favorite museum in Kansas City. Came here today expecting a bit more of what I grew up admiring in this museum, it's detailed history of the great frontier before Kansas City was a place. As a natural history museum it once had a nice combination of regional frontier history with an acknowledgement of the great Osage people who once were prominent in the area. I enjoyed the life size replica of an old pioneer wagon, and a realistic frontier trade post, along with examples of what was once traded here between the Indians and fur trappers. The Louis and Clark legacy and the Native American history is all but wiped out. I was saddened a few years back to learn that they had demolished the dioramas in the native animal section. One of those dioramas had been painted by my father, who was a well-known artist and a student of Thomas Hart Benton, whom the museum didn't care to acknowledge anywhere in any exhibit. Now, what they have tried to do is a zeitgeist appeasing historical take on Kansas City, relegating its prominence to just a few corporations that have contributed to the area, and what-not hospitals. And although the previous museum didn't have much on other ethnic cultures that made their mark in Kansas City, this new museum hardly has anything on the Native American, but merely a corner piece in this one room upstairs. Yes, there is a bigger attribute to the Long family, which the previous K.C. Museum only had in but a few rooms. However, there were other exhibits that seemed to waste space, something upstairs that I wasn't sure what it was, but seemed more ghoulish than a piece that should be in a museum. As I mentioned before one famous artist was ignored in this museum that is supposed to acknowledge contributing people in Kansas City. I was amiss as to why there was no mention of historical facts such as Kansas City's early contribution to Hollywood. Yes, K.C. has history in the beginning of Hollywood. Also, why was Walt Disney ignored? I can understand Tom Pendergast, but no mention of Lamar Hunt, even with the Chiefs current popularity? Also, if they wanted to focus on so much black history, where was Arthur Bryant's legacy both as a business man and bar-b-que king? I always suggest that as the best Bar-b-que in K.C. I just felt that overall there was a lot of particular (who's who of business and real estate) focus and a lot of miss, miss, miss on cultural and arts legacy.

What a beautiful tribute to Robert Longs legacy! This museum is stunning! I have been wanting to visit since the renovations and was impressed by how beautiful it is. Make sure to visit the 3rd floor and watch the video about the Longs....It's worth the time. But this museum isn't just about the Long's, it has rotating exhibits. There is an elevator to access the floors but I recommend the stairs as they are beautiful. This museum is free and worth the trip