The Most Flavorful Museums in Wichita

Towanda Area Historical Museum

★★★★★ 5 (1)

"Amazing renovation!! The staff are super friendly and knowledgeable about the local history too! Great place to visit on the weekend."

Ellinwood Underground Tunnels

★★★★★ 4.8 (4)

"I visited south central Kansas recently. If you asked me what I most remembered about my visit, I would say "ghosts" and "Ellinwood Underground Tunnels." If you're in Ellinwood or anywhere near this area, you need to take the tour. It's so interesting! There are tunnels under this small Kansas town, and the public (you) can experience them. The tour will lead you through a portion of the network of tunnels, and the tour guide will tell you all about the history.The tour starts at the Ellinwood Emporium, a charming little thrift/vintage store. You'll descend some stairs to the underground tunnels, where you'll learn about the activity that was happening in the tunnels in the late 1800s. The tunnels were a place to get a haircut and a shave, a place to bathe, a place to shop and relax. But also: Apparently, some stuff went down and now the tunnels also house spirits. There's one room that you'll see on the tour that the owner will not walk into, because there's a spirit in there that he doesn't want to mess with. Each room that you see on the tour is grim and creepy. The space in the Ellinwood Tunnels is heady, and is definitely housing some sort of bad energy, if you ask me. Head's up: This tour is not wheelchair- or stroller-friendly. You need to be able to climb down and up some steep stairs, and then navigate your way through tunnels, which have uneven ground."

Baxter Springs Heritage Center & Museum

★★★★★ 4.9 (10)

"What an great museum. It is so far above what I'd expect from this size of a town. The staff was extremely helpful. We were given a map; which was needed to make sure we saw everything. It covers the history of Baxter Springs from the mid-1800s (founding) up to the present. There are a wide range of exhibits and various rooms throughout with both a lot of memorabilia and artifacts, yet also signs explaining what things are. There are 2 full floors; and a few small things outside. We saw everything; it took 2.5 hours. Great tour through the last 160 years of middle America."

Top of Oklahoma Historical Society Museum

★★★★★ 5 (2)

"While working our way back to the main interstate 35 we came across this museum. At first we didnt know what to expect. We were warmly welcomed by Melissa who gave us a brief run down of the place.This place is a true museum with a lot of history of the town of Blackwell and its citizens. This place appears to have alot of things donated by local people who gave things that were a part of their lives or occupation. There are lots of items from numerous wars including World War one and two for sure.Lots of household items that were once used.Forgot to mention that is a hands on museum. Many items can be touched gently.Good luck on your adventure here. We hope to come back again some day when we have more time to look around.Be prepared to spend at least 2 hours here."

Seelye Mansion

★★★★★ 4.9 (20)

"Midwest road trip continues. And comes to an abrupt halt in Abilene, Kansas. At the Seelye Mansion. I say abrupt because I had my reservations about going here. My friend hasn't steered us wrong except one time she brought me somewhere and tried to get me high ... a story for another day. Anyway. It was the non-food highlight of the entire trip for me. I love history. I love museums. I especially love it when the tour guides are friendly, funny and know their sh*t. And you gotta love it when you're up close and personal with the artifacts to the point where you can sit and play on a Steinway. Listen to music on the Phonographs. Bowl on their old school bowling alley. More on that later. The house and its contents are preserved and well cared for. The current owner even lives on site but other than a few modern touches, you wouldn't be able to tell. See pics of a glimpse of what you'll see. Touch. Smell. Hear. And know that if you're in Abilene - this place is a must. As for bowling. I choked. Hard to follow after someone who rolls a perfect frame. At least it was for me. I rolled two gutters, scored a five."

Museum of World Treasures

★★★★☆ 4.4 (82)

"Ok the title of this place sounds horrible like a junky place how far from that this was a private collection of very very high end antiques collectibles and artifacts beyond anything I could imagine and it's in the town they have a T. rex we are so glad we went it's like having several pieces from major museums in one collection !! I'm a rock collector and rock group member so glad to see specimens I might even donate some to this place"

Harvey County Historical Society

★★★★☆ 4 (1)

"Friendly staff, local history, and a cool building to boot! This place was great!"

Midwest Dream Car Collection

★★★★★ 5 (5)

"Wow! What an amazing collection. Several cars I've never seen before, mainly because they are one of a kind or exceedingly rare. A hidden gem, and a must stop in the Little Apple."

Old Cowtown Museum

★★★★☆ 4 (30)

"We actually went here back in March and it was super a fun little trip! I'm from the Indianapolis area and this place reminds me of the Kansas version of Connor Prairie (which is a must-see in Indiana!). It's an outdoor interactive museum that takes you back to the 1860s and 1870s along the Arkansas River. There are 54 structures, many of those re original buildings, and during their peak season (April-October) they have actors that play in character. The saloon actually serves drinks (soda and water) and snack foods that you can order at the "bar." The kids will love getting up on the stage to "preform" and munching on their yummy popcorn and root beer. Several homes, a theatre, ballroom, doctor's office, school, mill, and many more buildings are here. Some containing original items on display or allowing interactive play. We went during the day when it was dead and it almost felt like a ghost town - we got the whole place to ourselves!Also splurged on some old time portraits and the Old Time Photos building, I believe it was like $30 for 5 of us. Fun!"

Pioneer Woman Museum

★★★☆☆ 2.7 (3)

"I feel kind of weird being the first to review on Yelp a museum that is over 55 years old.I come to Ponca City once a year for business and have wanted to stop here to visit. Today I finally did not knowing what to expect. I walked in and paid the $4 admission fee (less for seniors and minors). The museum is small with two exhibit rooms and a small gift shop. The permanent exhibit chronicles life for women from the settler days to the 20th century. There are banners honoring several Oklahoma women and their achievements in advancing women's rights and other causes. This exhibit is in one room. The travelling exhibit in the other room was about female journalists in Oklahoma. The primary attraction is the large statue of the Pioneer Woman out front.I must be honest and say I found the museum to be very simple and boring. I don't really understand its purpose and perhaps I am missing the point. I do understand the statue and how it honors the pioneer women but the interior displays are plain and in my opinion not worthy of having an inside museum for. The only saving grace if you want to attend is the very low admission price. I have to give a 2 score to be fair with other museums I have rated. I just can't give this place a 3. I hope that someone else can come in and give a different review with a different perspective and provide a higher rating.I forgot to take any pictures:("

Marland's Grand Home

★★★★★ 4.5 (2)

"THANK YOU to the volunteers who keep this piece of history alive. It's a lot of work, but so worth it. What a wonderful window into a time and place so distant in one way, but so near in another. I wasn't alive when the Marlands lived here - not even close - but my great grandmother, whom I knew well, would have been a young woman in this home's heyday.We especially enjoyed the mini-tour given to us by the woman volunteering that day, and learned more in 15 minutes than in a week of attending a history class."

Exploration Place

★★★★☆ 4 (37)

"With a name like Exploration Place, you know you're in the right place for some explorin'. This is the state of Kansas' biggest science center, and it's a must-visit if you're in the Wichita area, especially if you have children. This is a hands-on museum that features STEM activities for children, but really it's fun for all ages. There's a special area for the youngest of visitors, with a gated-off area so they can't escape. It has lots of activities for babies and toddlers.At this science center, kids can climb aboard an airplane and learn how it functions, marvel at miniatures, play pretend in a medieval castle, get turned around in a tornado tunnel, learn about the body and how it works, and lots more. One of my favorite exhibits was the miniatures, where you can look down at a mini downtown Wichita. Another favorite was the castle area, because there are lots of things for little kids to explore. This castle is a great place for kids to use their imaginations and play pretend. There's even a stage to act out plays, plus a big play area with lots of nooks to play hide and seek.Before I left, I visited the gift shop and got a couple of things (including an astronaut freeze-dried ice cream sandwich). This gift shop is really cool and has lots of unusual gifts and tchotchkes for your shopping pleasure. There are lots of new things to come for Exploration Place, including an outdoor play area. The outdoor area was under construction when I visited. I hope to visit again once they're all done to see all of the new and fun things they have for visitors."

Kansas Firefighters Museum

★★★★★ 5 (4)

"Sam Cox was an amazing guide! You have to see this incredible museum while in the area."

Dalton Defenders Museum

★★★★☆ 3.6 (5)

"This museum is tiny, but pretty neat in my opinion. Despite the very small size of the building there is a large range of items here, not just related to the Dalton Gang but to U.S. History in general. It is definitely worth a couple of bucks' admission to see these unique artifacts as history is preserved in Coffeyville. The neighborhood surrounding the museum is well worth a look also, don't come here without checking out the alleyway, bank, hardware store, etc...those areas are preserved to feel like a real piece of history and that part's actually free. You can see the outlines of where the bodies of the Dalton gang died and bullets ricocheted leaving nicks in the brick facades of buildings nearby. Another great bonus is to buy a combo ticket and also see the nearby Brown Mansion. They have a greatly reduced rate for students (when presenting student ID)."

Trail Days Cafe and Museum

★★★★★ 4.8 (29) • $$

"What an amazing experience! Came for lunch after hiking at Tall Grass Prairie. It's in the 1860 trail house with a museum and cafe. The menu comes alive with the owner walks you thru the history of the area by the foods from native Americans, to the settlers Italians, Germans etc. it's home cookin' at its best. We opted for Native American and went with bison and elk with traditional sides of butter beans, Indian bread, sweet potatoes and apple sauce to die for. We topped it off with homemade rhubarb and strawberry pie. The cherry tea was amazing too. Service was amazing and atmosphere was very unique."

Strataca - Kansas Underground Salt Museum

★★★★★ 4.8 (135)

"Strataca is an underground salt mine museum in Hutchinson. Did you know: Strataca is one of only 15 salt mines in the United States, and it's the only salt mine that accessible to tourists? Very neat. This is definitely a unique experience! To visit the museum, you need to put on a helmet (required) and you go 650 feet beneath the Earth's surface on an elevator. Once you're down there, you get a guided tour of the salt mine. The tour also includes a ride on a tram through an area that was mined in the 1940s, and you get to pick out your very own piece of salt to take home. The typical tour takes about 2 hours, and it's appropriate for all ages.I don't enjoy tight spaces or places without windows, but surprisingly, I didn't feel claustrophobic at all here. There is lots of air pumped into the museum, and the space is open and feels cool.People who love movies will love to see all of the film memorabilia that's stored here. Apparently, this is a storage place for films and tv shows, because the mine is fireproof and at a cool and dry temperature."

K-State Insect Zoo

★★★★★ 4.8 (10)

"The best insect zoo we have ever been to, we loved learning about all the different bugs and had so much fun doing it! My girls (ages 24 and 20) have always loved bugs (as have I), but this was our first time in an actual stand-alone insect zoo, and it was AWESOME!! Regular zoo insect houses are okay, but pale in comparison to the K-State insect zoo. We appreciate that the zoo was open over the Christmas holidays so that those of us who take post-Christmas trips (from Dallas) could visit. Bonus: we had the place to ourselves so we had good conversations with the staff entomologist, who explained how they care for and manage their insects. Cool behind the scenes info! Favorite exhibits in no particular order:Leaf-cutter Ants (just given fresh leaves)TarantulasScorpionsMantidsBees!Various exoskeletonsOther spiders (black widow and wolf spider)Assassin BugsWalking sticks - some species were 6 in. long!! The roaches in the kitchen exhibit is not for the faint of heart. Avoid the sink if you are squeamish. The albino roach on the counter exhibit was cool, though. Stop by and grab some insect snacks on the way out. Bugs are a great source of high-quality protein and ranching them is very climate friendly. 5 come get your bug fix stars!!"

Fort Harker Guard House Museum

★★★★★ 5 (1)

"Great information about the history of Kansas. Greg gave a tour and was very interesting. We'll worth the trip off I-70 to check it out. Good value and out of the normal activities."

Coutts Museum of Art

★★★★☆ 4.3 (3)

"To be fair, it's a museum in El Dorado Kansas. So the art is usually western themed. So if you like cowboys and Native American portrayed in art form, you will probably be tickled by this place. They do seemed to do a lot for the community, as well as hold special events. So go and support the community. It's not gonna take your breath away or bring a tear to your eye, but welcome to El Dorado."

Joplin History & Mineral Museum

★★★★☆ 4 (7)

"This isn't a bad little museum. It's separated into 2 parts; the mineral museum and the historical museum. It needs some serious updates but I am sure funding is the issue. Unfortunately the admission fees are already steep for the type of museum this is, but I have heard they offer 2 free days per week. I would love to see this museum revitalized somehow but I am not sure that is in the cards (for now)."

Kansas Oil Museum

★★★★★ 4.7 (3)

"Visiting El Dorado for work I came across this museum for something to do during my downtime. Easily one of my favorite 'small town' museums. There is a lot of information and exhibits on cattle ranching as well as oil production. The oil aspect has lots of genuine artifacts and various oil rigs to learn about, there's even a small company village where you can learn how the workers lived in the company village. Very cool!"

Marland Mansion & Estate

★★★★★ 5 (9)

"What you will find if you ever tour Herculaneum, or the EW Marland Mansion, is that after people are comfortable and well-fed, additional wealth basically is poured into art. Lots of art. Big art, small art. I especially delight in small artful details, and am posting a few pics as examples. Just know that this place is packed with them. Almost anywhere you look, there's something interesting.The Petroleum Hall Of Fame resides on the bottom floor. I view it very differently than the two women who wandered in and commented, "A good old boys' club." They need to read Atlas Shrugged! One of the men on that wall employed my grandpa - he worked for Hughes Oil. Personally I would not be willing to make the sacrifices necessary for my picture to be on that wall, but I appreciate the way of life those guys made possible. EW Marland in particular seems to have been quite generous in funding hospitals and many other things that benefitted all Ponca City residents.Have you seen the large portrait of Lydie? Apparently the artist disliked her, so he painted a serpent in near her feet. But I can't decide if that's also the reason the angle of her leg is so wrong, or if it was just a lack of talent. Either way, I'm surprised the Marlands would hang that portrait. Maybe they never noticed."

The Original Pizza Hut Museum

★★★★☆ 4.1 (8)

"This is a beautiful piece of history! I wish they could do something like that with the First White castle. This place is also well maintained, it's never too crowded, it's full of cool stuff. It gives you a great perspective of everything about pizza hut inside this one room that's a big as a master bedroom."

Frank Lloyd Wright's Allen House

★★★★☆ 4.4 (15)

"Came upon the fact that there is actually a FLLW property in Wichita where the team was staying actually, and actually was able to make something happen actually and book a tour actually.I must applaud the flexibility of the staff. I booked an 11:30 tour as the 1pm only had 1 spot left. I called the morning and they allowed us to change and take the 1pm tour instead which allowed us to make everyone happy and take care of our responsibilities. Huge house with a lot of history - in terms of Wright homes, I would put this in the upper half of the ones we have toured. Lots of family history pieces and extra information included - though the other people taking the tour were so concerned with showing how intelligent they were in a falsified humble manner - it took away from the experience. Tour guide with the glasses and white hair was great. Informative and good natured all around. Another one off the list."

Crawford County Historical Museum

★★★★☆ 4.3 (3)

"This museum is well worth a stop when you are in the Pittsburg, KS area. For those interested in American and/or Kansas history, I think it would be a nice stop on a longer trip when visiting (relatively nearby) Fort Scott, too. The museum was closed for a couple of years but has reopened as of my 2017 writing. It seems clean and relatively up to date considering this period of closure. The volunteers were very nice and forthcoming with a lot of extra information, which we appreciated. The two outdoor buildings (schoolhouse and general store) were especially of interest, as were the vehicles and fire truck in the cavernous back room of the museum. There were a few surprising and/or especially interesting items here that I've not seen in other museums. While the labels are not particularly fancy, they convey pertinent info."

Simpson's Mercantile

★★★★★ 4.7 (3)

"This place is a treasure. Free to enter, it's an amazingly comprehensive grotto of history pertaining to Oklahoma, and the "Wild West" in general. It's a shame this place doesn't top many Oklahoma "to-do" lists. It appeared online after some deep digging of things we could do when en route to the Great Salt Plains. In the end, turns out we could've solely made a day trip around this place and it would've been a summer weekend well spent. Inside you'll find taxidermy, saddles, movie memorabilia, old dolls (only vaguely creepy) and a host of other artifacts. Even fossilized dinosaur poop (or so they say). The huge building is also home to a slew of western-themed "movie sets" which the owners use for their own productions, and which the public is free to explore on off days. Best of all is when you get to talking with the owners. They've got a wealth of information if you take a moment to chat. They've got rollicking tales from their old movie shoots- and best of all a heap of John Wilkes Booth conspiracy theories linked to the town of Enid and stemming from their days working on the crew of the "Unsolved Mysteries" series. You'll leave this place feeling a huge sense of affection for the great state of Oklahoma and the wonderfully quirky folks who inhabit it."

Salina Art Center

★★★★★ 5 (3) • $

"If you're in town, check this place out, and ask for a free tour. The tour was amazing."

Twisted Oz Motorcycle Museum

★★★★★ 5 (6)

"Great museum! From Original condition bikes to restored beauties, amazing collection of Indian motorcycles I've seen. Love the setup here, every space of the building is fully utilized (including the ceiling). Fresh barns finds, and other cool vintage items are housed here. Kelly and Paul are doing a great job with this place. Donations are accepted"

Garden of Eden

★★★★★ 4.5 (17)

"Hereth lies Mr. Dinsmore, dead for 88 years who you can view in his mausoleum in the backyard of his house. When I decided to go through KS and see the stuff I hadn't seen (World's largest Ball of Twine.....), a few people in the Lawrence Kansas group on FB, said, "You can't miss Lucas, stay near Lucas. Visit Garden of Eden." So I stayed in Wilson, Ks, 16 minutes away from Lucas. Lucas is another town that Patrick Mahomes cans throw a football through. On my first day in Ks, I had time to visit Garden of Eden. (Pics to follow).It's a concrete wound artistic vine structure of a house built entirely out of cement to look like wood, built by Mr. Dinsmore. He even built a zoo, and in the museum tour of the house (which you must see). There are the ruins of the wild animal zoo in the back yard among the twisted curvy vine and concrete sculptures made by Mr. Dinsmore. Mr. Dinsmore was a man who wanted attention, which is why he built the wild animal zoo. When his wife died, he built concrete angels. He was politically minded and sculpted that as well. This house is only one of the sites in Lucas. I have no idea what is in their water, but surely it comes from the giant toilet over on Main street. For $8 Garden of Eden absolutely must see. I want to return so bad and go through it again."

Big Brutus

★★★★☆ 4.4 (18)

"I knew this thing was going to be big but it wasn't until I spotted it soaring over the treeline that I understood. Oh, and it's a little below grade. Big brutus is a Bucyrus-Erie model 1850B electric shovel. Yes, electric. Massive powerlines would be fed into this monster so that it could clear "overburden" and make it possible for other, smaller devices to mine the coal. At 160 feet high and weighing 11 million pounds, the draw makes 15,000 horsepower and could lift 150 tons of coal. It is therefore the largest existing electric shovel on the planet.Open for climbing (the boom is since closed because of insurance limitations), you can go inside the operator's cabin, walk around the interior body and take selfies in the massive shovel or next to one of the huge crawler tracks. Look out over the lake in front of it - Big Brutus cleared all of that in its heyday before it finally shut down due to environmental concerns.The attached museum has other mementoes telling the story of local mining and there is a movie that shows the machine in action.[Review 19773 overall - 40 in Kansas - 745 of 2023.]"

Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum

★★★★★ 5 (2)

"Loved the enormous amount of artifacts and information. Don't pass up the informational video at the beginning. Very friendly help getting us started. Each building was fascinating and beautiful. Well kept."

Great Plains Transportation Museum

★★★★☆ 4.3 (6)

"I wasn't expecting much from this museum, but I really enjoyed it. This isn't a big place, but for $5 you get to climb on 4 locomotives (one steam, one diesel, and 2 switchers) and several cabooses. It was fun to sit in the engineer's seat and see things from their perspective. It's a great place to kill a half hour while helping a non-profit organization."

Mid-America All-Indian Museum

★★★★☆ 3.8 (4)

"I love it when they serve the "Indian Tacos." The bread is so big and fluffy! And it's so giant, I always end up with at least another meal!"

Dickinson County Heritage Center

★★★★☆ 4 (1)

"If you know me you know I'm a sucker for a small town museum, and the Dickinson County Heritage Center does not disappoint. We came here because of the vintage carousel that they still operate, and ended up exploring the whole building and outside structures which really made it worth the small entrance fee to see. Let's start with the main building. When you walk in, it's an old small town museum, and it feels like it. I do think this place could benefit from some TLC in terms of updating it and breathing in some new life, but I will also say from working in the museum industry, that funding can be hard, and I felt like they did a really great job of keeping it running, clean, and accessible with what I can imagine are some limited resources. Once you pay, you can meander through the galleries which cover the history of Dickinson County, and feature some really interesting artifacts. Our favorite part of the main exhibits was the section on the introduction of the telephone and how it evolved over the years. For our four year old this was especially cool because they have some switch boards that are interactive, and you can even place a call to another phone in the museum. For a kid that has never seen a rotary phone before it was pretty magical, and honestly even for us adults who remember those days, it was cool to see how it worked and we spent a good amount of time in that area. Once you've had your fill of the inside museum you can venture outdoors and experience the old school carousel, and some historical buildings. The carousel was really cool. First of all it's the oldest known carousel to still be operational in existence. I mean, this may be a fact hard to track down and verify, but that's pretty impressive. Being built in 1901, it's crazy to be able to ride something so old and get a full experience that someone else would have had over 100 years ago. The old buildings were also pretty neat to explore and we enjoyed walking around and seeing what each one had to offer. Overall, this is a pretty cool stop for anyone who enjoys history."

Precious Moments Chapel and Gift Shoppe

★★★★☆ 4.2 (54) • $

"Free Chapel tour: Carthage MOWe recently visited the Precious Moments Chapel and headquarters in Carthage (located in southwestern Missouri), thanks to a tip from fellow Yelper, Alana M. We checked in with the employees inside the gift shop (required). We completed a COVID-19 related questionnaire then we were given a time slot for a free Chapel tour. Give yourself time to head out to the Chapel as it is not immediately right outside the gift shop. It is quite a walking distance. Once you reach the Chapel you will notice the beautiful hand carved wooden doors... go right on inside. There are no pews inside the Chapel. We learned about the artwork of Sam Butcher who created the park and chapel to bring his love of God to the people. The paintings are awe inspiring! We walked around the perimeter of the estate enjoying the gardens and the fountains. I was just glad we made the drive up here, it was a little out of nowhere LoL! We spent so much time here that we ran out of time for a tour at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum in Mansfield. That was poor planning on my part. ¯\_('~')_/¯Review #1953"