Milwaukee Public Museum

Milwaukee Public Museum is one of the largest natural history museums in the country, occupying a massive downtown building with over 150,000 square feet of exhibit space across multiple floors. It is a classic American natural history museum -- the kind with life-sized dioramas, dinosaur skeletons, and immersive environments that have captivated families for over a century.

The Streets of Old Milwaukee is the museum's signature exhibit and one of the most beloved museum installations anywhere. A full-scale recreation of 1890s Milwaukee streets fills an entire gallery -- cobblestone roads, gas lamps, storefront facades with detailed interiors (candy shop, barbershop, hardware store, pharmacy), and ambient sounds create an immersive walk through history. Kids peer into shop windows, enter some stores, and feel transported.

Nothing else in the museum world quite matches this.

The Third Planet gallery houses the paleontology collection with a T. rex skeleton, triceratops, and other dinosaur and prehistoric specimens. The exhibit combines skeletons with murals and interactives explaining geological time periods.

The diorama halls spanning the second and third floors are museum classics -- life-sized scenes depicting environments from around the world. The African savanna, European villages (complete with running water and ambient lighting that simulates dawn to dusk), Arctic landscapes, and South American rainforests are like looking through windows into other places and times.

The seasonal Butterfly Wing ($4 extra) is a tropical greenhouse filled with hundreds of free-flying butterflies from around the world. Visitors walk slowly among the butterflies, which regularly land on arms, shoulders, and heads. Staff help identify species.

Note: Milwaukee Public Museum is planning a move to a new purpose-built facility in the coming years. Check the website for current exhibit status, as some galleries may be closed or relocated during the transition.