The Indiana State Museum is located within White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum houses exhibit the science, art, culture, and history of Indiana from prehistoric times up to the present day. The museum is also the site of the state’s largest IMAX screen. The original collection of the Indiana State Museum was started in 1862, during the Civil War, when State Librarian R. Deloss Brown began collecting minerals and other curiosities that he kept in a cabinet. In 1869, the Indiana General Assembly enacted a law that provided “for the collection and preservation of a Geological and Mineralogical Cabinet of the Natural History of this State.” A state geologist was assigned to label and organize the collection, becoming the first employee of what would eventually become the Indiana State Museum. The natural history collection quickly developed beyond the legislature’s original intent when hundreds of cultural items, many relating to the recent Civil War, were added. Soon the collection was a museum of sorts, with a hodge-podge of curios and specimens.
The museum’s collection was displayed in a spacious room on the third floor of the State Capitol building in 1888, but it did not remain there for long. It was frequently moved from room to room until 1919 when the collection was sent to a most inhospitable place, the basement of the Statehouse. It would languish in this location for almost 45 years, completely closing once in the late 1920s and again in the early 1960s.
Galleries
With more than 40,000 square feet (4,000 m2) of exhibit space, the museum’s galleries cover the history of the natural world, Native Americans, cultural history, and the future of Indiana.
Gov. Frank O’Bannon Great Hall
- Dean and Barbara White Auditorium
- Legacy Theater: The Indiana African Experience
First Floor
- Birth of the Earth
- Ancient Seas
- B Annis Naturalist’s Lab
- Frozen Reign
- First Nations
- Natural Regions
Second Floor
- Contested Territory
- 19th State
- The Hoosier Way Bed Bug Exterminator Indianapolis
- Crossroads of America
- Enterprise Indiana
- American Originals
- Firefly Landing
Third Floor
- Rapp Reception Hall
- The Ford Gallery
- NiSource Gallery
- South Gallery
- Lincoln Financial Foundation Gallery
92 County Walk
The 92 County Walk is an art experience incorporated into the building’s façade that spotlights Indiana’s 92 counties by featuring an original sculpture for each county. The sculptures are made of limestone, aluminum, glass, and other materials and represent the uniqueness of each Indiana county.
Restaurants and Pubs
- Raw Bar by Slapfish is located at 339 Massachusetts Ave, Indianapolis, IN
- Vida is located at 601 E New York St, Indianapolis, IN
- 1913 Restaurant is located at 40 W Jackson Pl, Indianapolis, IN
Check out other attractions like Conner Prairie