Jacksonville Museums

Alexander Brest Planetarium
1025 Museum Circle 396-6674

Informative and fun programs for all ages. Every day visitors can gaze at the stars or learn about astronomy (past and present). The schedule changes regularly!
Cosmic Concerts are also under the dome of the planetarium.

American Lighthouse and Maritime Museum 1011 N. 3rd Street, Jax Beach, 241-8845

An intimate museum that depicts the history of lighthouses and includes paintings, scale models of lighthouses, photos, architectural drawings, lighthouse artifacts, and navigational aids.

Beaches Museum & History Center
380 Pablo Ave., Tues. - Sat. 10 am – 4:30 pm 241-5657

Enjoy the interactive, informative, and intriguing look at the area's heritage through exhibits and firsthand accounts designed to bring the rich history of the Beaches communities to life.

Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens 356-6857
829 Riverside Ave.
10 am to 9 pm Tues. and Thurs.
10 am. to 5 pm Mon., Wed. & Sat.
12 noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Cummer is the largest museum in Northeast Florida, with a permanent collection of more than 4,000 objects. The museum also features more than two acres of English and Italian gardens. The formal gardens, along the St. Johns River, are filled with beautiful sculptures and flowers. The collection of fine art and antiques are featured in 10 galleries throughout the museum and includes American and European paintings and sculpture from ancient, medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, 19th century Impressionist and Modern Art. Pre-Columbian ceramics and Japanese inro, netsuke, and woodblock prints are also part of the permanent collection.

Fort Caroline National Memorial
12713 Fort Caroline Road, Jacksonville,
641-7155

French Huguenots landed at this site in 1564 and established the first Protestant colony in North America. Today, the park encompasses 680 acres and includes a replica of the original fort, as well as a visitor center and a nature trail.

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum
101 W. 1st St.
632-2386
10 am to 1 pm

The Jacksonville Karpeles provides a rotating museum quality exhibition venue for emerging and well established regional contemporary artists. Children are specifically targeted with programs in history and art. Sprinkles' When I Grow Up Museum at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum offers interactive play for children up to age 7 in career-related theme areas, such as medical professions, performing arts and athletics.

Kingsley Plantation
11676 Palmetto Ave 251-3537
9 am to 5 pm everyday except the 3 major holidays.

On Fort George Island and includes the plantation house, a kitchen house, a barn, and the ruins of 25 of the original slave cabins. The plantation was named for, Zephaniah Kingsley. Kingsley operated under a "task" system, which allowed slaves to work at a craft or tend their own gardens once the specified task for the day was completed. Proceeds from the sale of produce or craft items were usually kept by the slaves. French Huguenots landed at this site in 1564 and established the first Protestant colony in North America. Today, the park encompasses 680 acres and includes a replica of the original fort, as well as a visitor center and a nature trail.

Jacksonville Fire Museum
9 am - 4 pm Monday - Friday
4110 Gator Bowl Drive

Thousands of school children have toured the museum, learning about fire safety and the history of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department. The Jacksonville Fire Museum includes more than 500 that represent the history of Firefighting in Jacksonville. Some of the artifacts are on loan from private individuals while other artifacts are property of the Jacksonville Fire Museum.

Jacksonville Historical Society
317 A. Philip Randolph Blvd.
665-0064

Trace Jacksonville's history from its days as home of the Timucuan Indians to its growth as a major port city on the United States Eastern Seaboard while at this historical center.

Mandarin Museum Tues, Thurs, Fri. 1 - 4 pm; Sat. 9 am - 4 pm Mandarin Store & Post Office 1st & 3rd Sat. 1 - 3 pm.

The old Mandarin Store and Post Office evokes memories of small town and village general stores across America. It was the hub of village life from the time it opened in 1911 until it closed in 1964. Displays include some of the original furnishings and other memorabilia.

Jacksonville Maritime Museum 1015 Museum Circle 398-9011
10:30 am - 3 pm Weekdays
Sat & Sun 1 pm - 5 pm

Books, documents, artifacts, and other historical objects significant to General Maritime History of Jacksonville and Florida's First Coast

Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA Tues & Fri.11 am - 5 pm, Wed & Thurs. 11 am - 9 pm, Thurs. 5 - 9 Free Sat 11 am - 4 pm, Sunday is Family Free Day 12pm - 4 pm 366-6911

Art exhibitions, collections, and educational programs designed to enhance awareness, understanding, and appreciation of our contemporary world. The newly renovated historic building houses five galleries, including a forty foot high atrium gallery, an auditorium for film and lectures, studio classrooms, and the Art Emporium Loft family learning center. 333 N. Laura Street

MOSH - Museum of Science and History 1025 Museum Circle 396-6674 Monday - Friday, 10 am - 5 pm Saturday 10 am - 6 pm Sunday 1 - 6 pm

The most visited museum in Jacksonville. Exhibits allow a visitor to delve into the prehistoric time of dinosaurs, the evolution of man, Earth's flora and fauna & the ends of the universe stretching to the beginning of time. Artifacts from a sunken Civil War steamship and an interactive display of the history and memorabilia of the Jacksonville Jaguars football team. The Alexander Brest Planetarium, added to the museum in the early 1980s, offers late-night Cosmic Concerts as well as more traditional sky shows explaining the cosmos.

Museum of Southern History 4303 Herschel Street, 388-3574 Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm

A locally operated, informative museum that is dedicated to preserving the lifestyle and culture of the Antebellum South through a variety of displays and artifacts such as memorabilia from the Civil War, as well as from everyday Southern life, politics, and fashion. 4303 Herschel Street, Jacksonville, 388-3574

LaVilla Museum Tues.- Fri. 10 am - 6:00 pm Saturday 10 am - 2:00 pmSunday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm 388-3574

A permanent collection of African-American history, with changing art exhibits in the gallery. The Museum celebrates the rich legacy of the African American community that thrived in LaVilla for more than 100 years. It replicates scenes of everyday life, documents the past with photographs and artifacts. The gallery features a wide variety of exhibits, including fine art collections, folk art, local art, and history exhibitions throughout the year. As well as educations programs for children and schools.

Jacksonville Silent Film Museum Arlington Rd between Cesery Blvd. and Rogero Rd

Not open Yet

The Jacksonville Silent Film Museum at Norman Studios is an Old Arlington, Inc. project to document the silent film history in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Southeast. The only known remaining silent film studio complex* left standing is the Norman Studios on Arlington Road, in Arlington, Jacksonville. There could be no better home for this new institution. We are in the process of refurbishing the Norman Studios back to its grander days to be ready in 2008 for a unique showing of the only remaining film that was shot here. The "Flying Ace" is currently in the Library of Congress Archives, awaiting our show time.

Tree Hill Nature Center Mon. - Sat. 8 AM - 4:30 PM 7152 Lone Star Road, 724-4646

A 50 acre urban wilderness area that contains a hardwood forest, four nature trails, a natural history museum, a beautiful garden, a live animal exhibit, science laboratory, guided tours, and gift shop. Educational programs and workshops are also available and special events are held here throughout the year.

Museums in St. Augustine

Lightner Museum

Relics of America's Gilded Age are elegantly exhibited on the museum's three floors. Costumes, furnishings, mechanical musical instruments and other artifacts give you a glimpse into 19th century daily life. The Lightner collection includes beautiful examples of cut glass, Victorian art glass and the stained glass work of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Old Florida Museum

This entertaining "Hands On" museum allows guests to actually participate in daily living activities from pre-European times to 1900's

Potter's Wax Museum

Features over 160 wax figures. Authors, Artists, Inventors, Scientists and Explorers. From the Founding Fathers to recent events and celebrities. It's a chance to learn about world history face to face with those who lived it.

Ripley's Believe It Or Not

Explore more than 800 exhibits at the Original Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum. See the unusual, the unorthodox, and the exotic, collected from the far corners of the world. Join us for a journey from the past to the present...or is it the future?

St. Augustine Historical Society

The oldest continuously operating museum and historical society in Florida. Beginning in 1881 as an informal group that met in private homes to discuss topics of historical and scientific interest, the society formally organized on New Year's Day 1883. The earliest programs were varied: historical, literary, and scientific. In 1899 the society purchased a colonial house and its contents, known as the Vedder Museum, but these holdings were lost in a disastrous fire in 1914. Undaunted, the society struck a deal with the U.S. War Department to manage the abandoned Fort Marion, a tenure which lasted until 1935, when the fort became the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, and lobbied successfully for federal resoration of the 18th-century blockhouse Fort Matanzas.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Dedicated to discovering, preserving, presenting and keeping alive the story of nation's oldest port.

Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island Museums

Amelia Island Museum of History

Bursting with fascinating stories that are just waiting to be shared with eager visitors and residents. From the Timucua Native American tribe to Spanish and French explorers, from the lawless spirit of pirates to the dignified air of Victorian-era residents, Amelia Island has been home to diverse cultures that have left an exciting heritage.