List of museums in Boston

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This list of museums in Boston, Massachusetts, is a list of museums (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 are not included. Also included are non-profit and university art galleries.

Contents

Museums

To use the sortable table, click on the icons at the top of each column to sort that column in alphabetical order; click again for reverse alphabetical order.

NameNeighborhoodTypeNotes
Abiel Smith School Beacon Hill African AmericanPart of Museum of African American History, first public school for free blacks
African Meeting House Beacon HillAfrican AmericanPart of Museum of African American History
Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company Museum Downtown BostonHistoryMilitary museum, JFK and Medal of Honor special exhibits, military relics, paintings, photographs, and library, located on the 4th floor of Faneuil Hall
Boston African American National Historic Site Beacon HillAfrican AmericanInterprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, including the African Meeting House and the Abiel Smith School
Boston Athenæum Beacon HillMultipleLibrary and museum of art
Boston Children's Museum South Boston Children'sLocated on Children's Wharf
Boston City Hall GalleriesFinancial DistrictArt website, Mayor's Gallery exhibits work by Boston artists, Scollay Square Gallery showcases arts organizations and artists community groups that support Boston artists
Boston Fire Museum Financial DistrictFire
Boston National Historical Park BostonHistoric sitesRevolutionary War trail in Boston and Charlestown, includes Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Bunker Hill Monument, USS Constitution
Boston Public Library Back Bay LibraryChanging exhibits of art and history from its collections at the Central Library, also at branch locations
Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum South BostonHistoryReenactments, interactive exhibits, and two authentically restored ships
Boston University Art GalleriesFenway–KenmoreArt website, Stone, 808, Annex, and Sherman Galleries
BSA Space Financial DistrictArchitectureChanging exhibits of architecture and design by the Boston Society of Architects
Bunker Hill Monument Charlestown MilitaryMonument and museum about the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill
Center for the History of Medicine Longwood Medical and Academic Area MedicalRotating exhibits about the history of medicine from the collections of the Countway Library of Medicine
Commonwealth Museum DorchesterHistoryState history, operated by the Massachusetts Archives
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate Dorchester HistorySpecialty museum and educational institution containing the only full-scale reproduction of the U.S. Senate Chamber.
Faneuil Hall Downtown BostonHistoryMarketplace and meeting hall during the American Revolution
Fort Warren Georges Island MilitaryMid 19th-century fort and park
Gallery 360 at Northeastern University Fenway–KenmoreArt website, located in Ell Hall
Gallery 5 at Emmanuel College Longwood Medical and Academic AreaArt website, exhibitions of work by professional artists, emerging artists, artist residents, outsider artists and Emmanuel College art students and alumni
Garner Center for Photographic Exhibitions Fenway–Kenmore Art website, photography exhibitions by the New England School of Photography
Gibson House Museum Back Bay Historic house1850-1870s period townhouse
Harbor Gallery at University of Massachusetts Boston DorchesterArt website, student-run gallery in McCormack Hall
Huret and Spector Gallery at Emerson College Boston Theater District Art website, located in the Tufte Performance Production Center (10 Boylston Place)
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston South BostonArtContemporary art website
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Fenway–KenmoreArtIncludes European, Asian and American art, including paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts
James Blake House Dorchester Historic houseOperated by the Dorchester Historical Society, 1661 house, oldest house in Boston
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum DorchesterBiographicalPresidential library and museum of John F. Kennedy
Lemuel Clap House DorchesterHistoric houseOperated by the Dorchester Historical Society, mid 18th-century period house
Loring-Greenough House Jamaica Plain Historic house18th-century period mansion
Mary Baker Eddy Library Fenway–KenmoreMultipleIncludes the Mapparium, a three-story, stained-glass globe, the Hall of Ideas and changing exhibits about relating to the life of Mary Baker Eddy
Mary L. Fifield Art Gallery at Bunker Hill Community College CharlestownArt website
MassArt Art Museum at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design Longwood Medical and Academic AreaContemporary Art website
Massachusetts College of Art and Design GalleriesLongwood Medical and Academic AreaArt website, 9 galleries featuring mostly student work: Arnheim Gallery, Brant Gallery, Doran Gallery, Frances Euphemia Thompson Gallery, Godine Family Gallery, Student Life Gallery, Tower Gallery, and North Crackertorium Gallery
Massachusetts Historical Society Back BayHistoryExhibits from its collections of American history, life and culture
Museum of African American History Beacon HillAfrican AmericanIncludes the African Meeting House and Abiel Smith School
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Fenway–KenmoreArtContains over 450,000 works of art
Museum of Science, Boston Downtown BostonScienceIncludes over 500 interactive exhibits, 100 animals, planetarium and IMAX theater
Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists RoxburyArtContemporary and historical expressive arts from the global Black world, located in Abbotsford house
Nichols House Museum Beacon HillHistoric houseTurn-of-the-century townhouse with period rooms
Old North Church North End Historic site18th-century church, location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent in 1775
Old South Meeting House Financial District HistoryOperated by Revolutionary Spaces, Organizing point for the Boston Tea Party, includes museum
Old State House Museum Financial DistrictHistoryOperated by Revolutionary Spaces, 18th-century Colonial state house, served as the first state house for the newly formed Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Otis House Museum West End Historic houseOwned by Historic New England, also known as Harrison Gray Otis House, post-Revolutionary house
Paul Revere House North EndHistoric houseLate 17th-century period house, home of American Revolutionary patriot Paul Revere, also adjacent Pierce–Hichborn House
Photographic Resource CenterFenway–KenmoreArt website, photography and related media
Pierce House DorchesterHistoric houseOwned by Historic New England, 17th-century period house, open twice a year
Roxbury Heritage State Park Roxbury Historic house1750 Dillaway–Thomas House restored to show how it changed over two centuries
Russell Museum of Medical History and Innovation West EndMedical website explores history of medicine and health care at Massachusetts General Hospital
Shirley-Eustis House RoxburyHistoric houseRestored 18th-century mansion of Royal Governor William Shirley
The Sports Museum West EndSportsCelebrates Boston sports, located in TD Garden
Suffolk University GalleryDowntown BostonArt website, exhibition space for the New England School of Art and Design in the former Paine Furniture Building
Trustman Art Gallery at Simmons University Longwood Medical and Academic AreaArt website, professional and student work
USS Cassin Young CharlestownMaritimeWorld War II destroyer museum ship
USS Constitution CharlestownMaritime"Old Ironsides", wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy, launched in 1797
USS Constitution Museum CharlestownMaritimePrivately run museum is located at the former Charlestown Navy Yard near the US Navy's USS Constitution
Vilna Shul Beacon HillEthnicBoston's center for Jewish culture
Warren Anatomical Museum Longwood Medical and Academic AreaMedicalHoused in Harvard Medical School's Countway Library of Medicine
Waterworks Museum, Boston Allston–Brighton Technology website, late 19th-century former pumping station for the Chestnut Hill Reservoir
West End Museum West EndLocal HistoryWest End neighborhood history and culture
William Clapp House DorchesterHistoric house19th-century house, home of the Dorchester Historical Society
William Hickling Prescott House Beacon HillHistoric houseOperated by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 19th-century home of author William Hickling Prescott

Defunct museums

See also

References