List of museums in Montana

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This list of museums in Montana encompasses museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included.

The six areas referred to in the "Region" column are explained in a separate section below.

Montana has an unusual number of paleontology museums and museums with paleontology sections, much of them filled with discoveries from within the state. These museums are listed again in a separate table below with more specific information.

This list is a sortable table. Click on the small boxes next to any heading title to reorder the list (in alphabetical order or reverse alphabetical order) by that category.

Name	Town/City	Region	Type	Summary
American Computer Museum	Bozeman	South central	Computer	web
Bair Family Museum	Martinsdale	North central	Historic house	web
Beaverhead County Museum	Dillon	Southwest	History	info
Big Horn County Historical Museum	Hardin	Southeast	Open air	web
Blaine County Museum	Chinook	Northeast	History	web
Blaine County Wildlife Museum	Chinook	Northeast	History	Museum still in progress web
Broadwater County Museum	Townsend	Southwest	History	web
Carbon County Historical Society Museum	Red Lodge	South central	History	web
Castle Museum, Montana	White Sulphur Springs	North central	Computer	web
Central Montana Museum	Lewiston	North central	History	info, info
Children's Museum of Bozeman	Bozeman	South central	Children's	web
Children's Museum (Missoula)	Missoula	Northwest	Children's	web; interactive exhibits for children "ages 0-8"[1]
Children's Museum of Northeast Montana	Glasgow	Northeast	Children's	web
C.M. Russell Museum	Great Falls	North central	Art	web
Conrad Mansion Museum	Kalispell	Northwest	Historic house	web; 1895 Norman-style mansion built by trading and freighting magnate and Kalispell founder Charles Conrad; has 26 originally furnished rooms, Tiffany-style windows[2]
Conrad Transportation and Historical Museum	Conrad	North central	History / Transportation	web
Crazy Mountain Museum	Big Timber	South central	History	web
Culbertson Museum	Culbertson	Northeast	History	web
Custer Battlefield Museum	Garryowen	Southeast	History	web
Custer County Art & Heritage Center	City	Southeast	Art	web
Daniels County Museum & Pioneer Town	Scobey	Northeast	Living history	web
Darby Pioneer Memorial Museum	Darby	Northwest	Local history	Information; collection of pioneer home and work artifacts
Depot Museum	Rudyard	North central	History	info
Desert John's Saloon Museum	Deer Lodge	Southwest	History	info
Earth Science Museum	Loma	North central	History, Natural history	info
Fly Fishing Discovery Center	Livingston	Park	Sports - Fly fishing	web
Fort Benton Museums	Fort Benton	North central	Multiple	web
Fort Peck Interpretive Center & Museum	Fort Peck	Northeast	Natural history	web
Frontier Gateway Museum	Glendive	Southwest	History	web
Frontier Montana Museum	Deer Lodge	Southwest	History	web
Gallatin County Historical Society & Pioneer Museum	Bozeman	South central	History	web
Glacier County Historical Society Museum	Cut Bank	Southwest	History	web
Granite County Museum & Cultural Center	Philipsburg	Southwest	History	info, includes the Ghost Town Hall of Fame
Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center	West Yellowstone	South central	History	web
H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum	Havre	North central	History	info, info
Heritage Museum, Libby	Libby	Northwest	History	web
Hi-Line Vintage Motors Museum	Rudyard	North central	Transportation - Automobile	Info
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula	Missoula	Northwest	History	web
The History Museum	Great Falls	North central	History	info
Hockaday Museum of Art	Kalispell	Northwest	Art	web
Holt Heritage Museum	Lolo	Northwest	West	web
Holter Museum of Art	Helena	Southwest	Art	web
Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture	Huntley	Southwest	Art	web
Jefferson Valley Museum	Whitehall	Southwest	History	web
Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center	Great Falls	North central	History	web
Liberty County Museum	Chester	North central	History	info
Livingston Depot Center	Livingston	South central	History	web
Mai Wah Museum	Butte	Southwest	Ethnic - Asian-American	web; history of Asian-Americans in the Butte area
Makoshika Dinosaur Museum	Glendive	Southwest	Paleontology	web
Malmstrom Museum	Great Falls	North central	Aviation	web
Marcus Daly Historical Society	Anaconda	Southwest	Local history
Marias Museum of History and Art	Shelby	North central	History / Art	info
MBMG Mineral Museum	Butte	Southwest	Geology	web
Mehmke Museum	Great Falls	North central	Technology	info
Mineral Museum (Butte) at the Montana Tech of The University of Montana	Butte	Southwest	Geology - Minerals	web; collection includes 1,300 mineral specimens on display from around the world; The Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Earthquake Studies Office is in the Museum with operating seismographs on view;
Miracle of America Museum and Pioneer Village	Polson	Northwest	Multiple	web
Missoula Art Museum	Missoula	Northwest	Art - Contemporary	web
MonDak Heritage Center	Sidney	Northeast	Art	web
Montana Auto Museum	Deer Lodge	Southwest	Transportation - Automobile	web
Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame	Wolf Point	Northeast	Hall of fame - Cowboys	Proposed museum web
Montana Historical Society Museum	Helena	Southwest	History	web
Montana Law Enforcement Museum	Deer Lodge	Southwest	Law enforcement	Currently closed web
Montana Museum of Art & Culture at the University of Montana - Missoula	Missoula	Northwest	Art / Culture	web; collection of 10,000 items includes American Impressionism, ceramics, works by Frederick Remington, Julius Seyler, William Merritt Chase, Joseph Henry Sharp, Alfred Maurer, Honore Daumier, modernist or contemporary artists Andy Warhol, David Salle and R.B. Kitaj[3]
Montana Natural History Center	Missoula	Northwest	Natural history	web
Moss Mansion	Billings	Southeast	Historic house	web
Museum at Central School	Kalispell	Northwest	Art	web
Museum of Fine Arts Butte	Butte	Southwest	Art	web
Museum of the Northern Great Plains	Fort Benton	North central	History	web, info
Museum of the Plains Indian	Browning	Northwest	Ethnic - Native American	web
Museum of the Rockies	Bozeman	South central	Natural history / Paleontology / History	web
Museum of the Upper Missouri	Fort Benton	North central	History	web, info
Musselshell Valley Historical Museum	Roundup	Southeast	History	web
National Museum of Forest Service History	Missoula	Northwest	History	web
Ninepipes Museum	Charlo	Northwest	History	web
North American Wildlife Museum	Coram	Northwest	Natural history	web
Northwest Montana Historical Society Museum at Central School	Kalispell	Northwest	History	web
O'Fallon Historical Museum	Baker	Southeast	History	web
Old Jail Museum	Thompson	Sanders	History	web
Old Prison Museum	Deer Lodge	Southwest	History	web
Old Trail Museum	Choteau	North central	History / Natural history	info
Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art	Great Falls	North central	Art	web
Phillips County Museum	Malta	Phillips	History	web
Piccadilly Transportation Memorabilia Museum	Butte	Southwest	Transportation	web
Polson-Flathead Historical Museum	Polson	Northwest	History	web
Powder River Historical Museum and Mac's Museum	Broadus	Southeast	History	web
Powell County Museum	Deer Lodge	Southwest	History	web
Ravalli County Museum	Hamilton	Northwest	History	info
Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History	Missoula	Northwest	Military	web
Rudyard Historical Society Museums	Rudyard	North central	History / Paleontology / Transportation - Automobile	web
Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitor Center	Seeley Lake	North central	History	info
Tobacco Valley Historical Village	Eureka	Open air	Northwest	Information; buildings, including a school, church, log cabin, general store, fire tower, and railroad depot from the 1880s to 1920s, all furnished with period artifacts
Upper Missouri River Breaks Interpretive Center	Fort Benton	North central	Natural history / History	web, info
Upper Musselshell Museum	Harlowton	North central	History	web
Ursuline Center Heritage Museum	Great Falls	North central	Religious	web
Utica Museum	Utica	North central	Local history	info; artifacts from the Homestead Era, including dishes, clothes, furniture, tools, and leather goods; pictures of local homesteaders[4]
Valley County Pioneer Museum	Glasgow	Northeast	History	web
Western Heritage Center	Billings	Southeast	History	web
Winifred Museum	Winifred	Northeast	History	info, includes a collection of over 3000 Tonka toys
World Museum of Mining	Butte	Southwest	Industry - Mining	web
Yellowstone Art Museum	Billings	Southeast	Art	web
Yellowstone County Museum	Billings	Southeast	History	web
Yellowstone Gateway Museum	Livingston	South central	History / Natural history	web
Yellowstone Historic Center	West Yellowstone	South central	History	web
Yesterday's Playthings	Deer Lodge	Southwest	Toy	web

Contents 1 Defunct museums 2 Museums with paleontology holdings 3 Regions 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Defunct museums

• Dumas Brothel - Butte [1] - The institution is still struggling to survive as of April 2008, with a fundraising plea on the home page of its website. The website states the bordello was "designed and built as a brothel in 1890 and remained active as a brothel until 1982, making it America's longest running house of prostitution".^[5]

[edit] Museums with paleontology holdings

This list repeats items in the above list, with more information on fossil dinosaur holdings. Each of the museums on the Montana Dinosaur Trail has "unique paleontology displays, interpretation, replicas or actual skeletons of dinosaurs and other fossils" found in Montana", according to the official Montana Dinosaur Trail web page.^[6]

Name	Town/City	Region	On Dinosaur Trail?	Education programs/ Guided tours?	Associated Field Digs?	Summary
Blaine County Museum	Chinook	North central	Yes	No	No	Web page; paleontology department of this local museum has a dozen Judith River Formation exhibits including Hadrosaur, Gorgosaurus, and Ankylosaurus fossils from the area; has remains of gigantic marine reptiles Mosasaur and Plesiosaur, along with invertebrates from the ancient ocean that covered the area; a "Look, Touch, and Wonder" room where visitors can handle fossils of sea creatures, plants, and dinosaurs.[6]
Carter County Museum	Ekalaka	Southeast	Yes	No	No	Website; Collection, all collected from the nearby Hell Creek Formation, includes one of the world's five skeletons of Anatotitan copei, complete skulls of the three-horned Triceratops horridus, the dome-headed Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensisi, and Nanotyrannus lancesis (a tiny tryannosaur)[6]
Fort Peck Field Station of Paleontology	Fort Peck	Northeast	Yes	Yes	No	Website; associated with the University of Montana Paleontology Department, a working field station where paleontologists research, prepare, mold and cast fossils[6]
Fort Peck Interpretive Center and Museum	Fort Peck	Northeast	Yes	Yes	No	Collection centerpiece is "Peck's Rex", claimed to be one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons yet found; in the lobby is a life-size replica model of Peck's Rex, and the exhibit hall displays a full-size skeleton cast; also a Cretaceous Sea display and several other dinosaur exhibits[6]
Garfield County Museum	Jordan	Northeast	Yes	No	Yes	Website; dinosaur holdings include Cretaceous fossils from the Hell Creek Formation; a Tyrannosaurus rex skull, full-size Triceratops replica, a Pachycephalosaur skull[6]
Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and Field Station	Malta	Northeast	Yes	Yes	Yes	To open in June 2008; contains fossils and preparation lab; displays include Brachylophosaurus mummy dinosaur recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "best preserved" dinosaur; Jurassic Stegosaurs; a Sauropod; visitors can view the lab where dinosaur fossils are prepared[6]
H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum	Havre	North central	Yes	No	No	Fossil displays include Judith River Formation dinosaur eggs and embryos believed to be laid by a Lambeosaurus ("duck bill" dinosaur); displays about archeological finds from the nearby Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump Site.[6]
Makoshika State Park	Glendive	Southeast	Yes	Yes	No	Montana’s largest state park has dinosaur fossil remains, including Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops; visitor center at the park entrance has exhibits explaining the site's geologic, fossil, and prehistoric significance;[7] artifiacts include a Triceratops skull; has a "touchy-feely" table allowing visitors to hold fossils and artifacts prevalent in the park[8]
Makoshika Dinosaur Museum	Glendive	Southeast	Yes	Yes	Yes	Website; Fossils from around the world; late Cretaceous, Jurassic periods; an "Ages of the Sea Cavern"; displays life-sized Allosaurus and Stegosaurus in combat; Pterosaurs, a full-size Tyrannosaurus rex skull; dinosaur sculptures[6]
Museum of the Rockies	Bozeman	South central	Yes	Yes	No	Said to have "one of the largest collections of dinosaur fossils in the world", including the world's largest Tyrannosaurus rex skull, one of the first identified female dinosaurs in the world (an ovulating T. rex); rare fossils; part of Montana State University - Bozeman; state's official repository for both federal and state paleontological collections[6]
Old Trail Museum	Choteau	North central	Yes	No	No	Website; Displays finds from the area's Two Medicine Formation, including a Maiasaura skull, Einosaurus skull as well as nestling, hatchling and teenage Maiasaura skeletons and bones, a Sauronitholestes skeleton cast, dinosaur footprints, marine fossils, bones that can be touched, a preparation lab display, geologic information about the Rocky Mountain Front and Willow Creek Anticline[6]
Phillips County Museum	Malta	Northeast	Yes	No	No	Website; Paleontology section includes fossils from nearby Judith River Formation; 33-foot long skeleton of "Elvis", a Brachylophosaurus, claimed to be "one of the best articulated dinosaur skeletons ever found"; a complete Tyrannosaurus rex skull; 28-foot skeleton of an Albertosaurus[6]
Rudyard Depot Museum	Rudyard	North central	Yes	No	No	Displays include the "Oldest Sorehead", a Gryposaurus found nearby; a duckbill dinosaur and egg nest display[6]
Two Medicine Dinosaur Center	Bynum	North central	Yes	Yes	Yes	Website; baby dinosaur bones; Guinness Book of World Records largest, scientifically accurate dinosaur reconstruction; Seismosaurus halli; public, hands-on dinosaur research and education programs[6]
Upper Musselshell Museum	Harlowton	South central	Yes	No	No	Website; centerpiece is "Ava", a full-size Avaceratops skeleton replica from the Judith River Formation; Hadrosaur tibia and fibula, a cast of a Gypsonictops jaw; dinosaur leg bone and hip bone fossils; other fossilized ancient sea creatures[6]

[edit] Regions

The six regions referred to in the above lists are based on those used by the Montana tourism authority^[9] and the Montana Association of Museums^[10]. The regions used here have the same boundaries but are renamed here:

• North central ("Russell Country"):
  • Prominent communities: Great Falls
  • Counties: Cascade, Chouteau, Hill, Judith Basin, Liberty County, Meagher, Pondera, Toole, Wheatland

• Northeast ("Missouri River Country"):
  • Counties: Blaine, Daniels, Fergus, Garfield, McCone, Petroleum, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Valley

• Northwest ("Glacier Country"):
  • Prominent communities: Missoula, Whitefish
• Counties: Flathead, Glacier, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli

• South central ("Yellowstone Country"):
  • Prominent communities: Bozeman
  • Counties: Carbon, Gallatin, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park

• Southeast ("Custer Country"):
  • Prominent communities: Billings
  • Counties: Big Horn, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Golden, Musselshell, Prairie, Powder River, Rosebud, Treasure, Wibaux, Yellowstone

• Southwest ("Gold West Country"):
  • Prominent communities: Helena, Butte
  • Counties: Beaverhead, Broadwater, Deer Lodge, Granite, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Madison, Powell, Silver Bow

[edit] See also

• Arboreta in Montana (category)
• Botanical gardens in Montana (category)
• Historic landmarks in Montana
• Houses in Montana (category)
• Forts in Montana (category)
• Museums list
• Nature Centers in Montana
• Registered Historic Places in Montana

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Museums Association of Montana
• Visit Montana - Museums Complete listing of museums with facilities, contact info, directions.
• Montana Dinosaur Trail - museums with focus on paleontology in Montana

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