Big and famous museums like the British Museum in London or the Louvre in Paris are not only confusing and exhausting but also awe-inspiring and do not invite the visitor to come too close or even touch the exhibits. Miami's Historical Museum of Southern Florida is very different. Although the exhibits, lovingly assembled and displayed provide a splendid overview of the history of Southern Florida, beginning with the prehistoric Tequesta and ending with Flagler and the Miami street car, visitors are invited to participate. The museum has special children's and parents' days where the kids can put on period clothes and play with the utensils of the early settlers, mount the streetcar and even have cooking lessons. Also, the museum is not very big which makes it easier to get an overview and then concentrate on a specific period the visitor may be interested in.
Location of and Directions to Miami's Historical Museum of Southern FloridaThe Historical Museum of Southern Florida is located at 101 West Flagler Street in downtown Miami. The opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, Sundays from 12 pm to 5 pm and every third Thursday from 10 am to 9am.
Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children (6-12) and $7 for seniors and students. Every second Saturday however the admission is free and that's what they call "family day". There is also a museum shop in the lobby, where the visitor can buy interesting books, trinkets, reproductions of old maps and authentic art deco period postcards among many other things.
Layout of Historical Museum in Miami/FloridaThe main focus of the museum is on the history of the Indian population in Southern Florida. Ever since the spectacular discovery of the "Miami Circle ", a sacred site of the Tequesta Indians, during building activity in 1998, the museum has been closely involved in further excavations and documentation of the site. A huge mural/photography of the "Circle" dominates the staircase which leads to the upper floor.
Temporary exhibitions are housed downstairs, like the recent "Interama: Miami and the Pan-American Dream" which ended on 25th of January 2009.
The second floor is dedicated to Florida pioneers like Flagler, Julia Tuttle and others, without whom the State of Florida in general and Miami in particular would never have been developped to its present importance.
The other half of the second floor exhibits insights into the life of the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians who today live in their villages and reservations in the Everglades. Artifacts and clothing are changed often as the museum boasts a huge collection.
Animation, videos and photography take the visitor through the times of World War I and II, the plight of Cuban refugees to modern times.
Family Days at the Historial Museum of Southern FloridaOn family days volunteers let children play in the Indian tents or pioneerhouses, roam the streetcar and do things with them like making key rings or finger paintings.There are even the occasional cooking lessons held in a community room downstairs.
This particular museum achieves combining knowledge and education with hands-on fun for the scholar as well as families, a rare combination for any museum.
Inka Piegsa-Quischotte - Since two years I am a full time travel and lifestyle writer and blogger. I published several articles and blogs on ...
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