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North Carolina Museum of History
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
5 E Edenton StRaleigh, NC 27601
(919) 715-0200
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 9 am - 5 pm
Sun 12 pm - 5 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
15 reviews for North Carolina Museum of History
15 reviews in English
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Review from Rob G.
East Quogue, NY
I really enjoyed this place! Checkout Pharoah's in the museum for some great food!
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Review from Elizabeth F.
Richmond, VA
6/17/2011
Being new to the area (and state), DH and I decided to have a "Day of NC Culture" by visiting the NC Musuem of History and its next door neighbor, Museum of Natural Sciences. It is a beautiful facility with two floors of exhibits to see. Plus, it is free of charge!
I was hoping for a little more in-depth history of the area, but it was a good orientation for a newcomer. I especially enjoyed the Thomas Day furniture exhibit and the photoessay of Lewis Hinds, who documented abuses of NC child labor laws in the early 20th century - heartbreaking and riveting.Listed in: Fun Stuff To Do For Free!
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Review from Jessica K.
Chicago, IL
5/15/2011
Since I did not grow up here in NC, I was definitely excited to learn more about NC history. Believe me when I tell you, there is a lot of really fascinating stuff in this museum, but I really wish there was more. I don't know if it is a funding thing or maybe they were between exhibitions maybe?
We did get to see the Thomas Day Master Cabinetmaker exhibit, which was really amazing...such beautiful furniture! And the old-school drug store set up was really awesome. It would be really neat if they had someone dressed up like an old pharmacist or soda jerk in there.
I didn't go into the gift shop, though I think I might go back to get presents for my family or something at some point. -
Review from Michael B.
Raleigh, NC
Today was a school field trip with the kids school, and as I went around chaperoning a group of kids, you learn something. The kids liked the exhibits with the guns, buttons you can push, the touch screen trivia, and race cars. Guess what, this museum has it all, or all of that at least.
There are two main floors with exhibits that you can see. The museum is constantly being remodeled, so you have to go every few months to see what is new. No kid on the field trip was bored, but then again they were 7 & 8, and I think everybody, not matter how old, or young will get something out of this.
There is history on airplanes, cars, slavery, civil war, cabinet making, drug stores, child labor, race car, war, sports and more. As you go along there are little fact sheets that you can pick up and guide you on the area you are in. Many facts are very interesting.
Right now they are working on new exhibits on each floor, so I am sure that it will be something interesting. And if you want your kids to have an educational summer, then the museum also has summer camps.
Now I will say why I gave it four stars. The reason is simple, or stupid depending on how you look at it. Because the kid in me likes the Museum of Natural Science across the way better. But, if you are history buff, then you might think other wise. -
Review from Phillip Y.
Des Moines, IA
1/12/2011
Well, I am not a huge history buff but I can appreciate it. The one thing I have to say is this museum is all over the place. You get history but also sports, drugstore, furniture, war, native American, etc. There is plenty of space in this museum but poorly utilized. One thing that I would recommend to the museum is organization and flow.
There is also the special exhibit of George Washington which we didn't visit it. This might be the one decent thing to see at this museum. However, we were tired after visiting the NC Museum of Natural Science.
The one plus is that this is free admission. Otherwise, you might be better off seeing something else which has some organization and flow. I would recommend the NC Museum of Natural Science instead. -
Review from Michael H.
Raleigh, NC
1/31/2011
The North Carolina Museum of History is located centrally in downtown Raleigh, a short skip north of the state capital building.
Oddly, my biggest problem with the museum is that it's either deceptively large on the outside, or deceptively small on the inside. For the footprint that the building represents, the use of space inside is a bit confusing and not particularly constructive.
But, the museum does a good job of representing North Carolina's history. I'm not a sports fan, but I do appreciate the extensive collection of sports memorabilia on display. The military exhibit is also particularly well done. I was a little less enamored with the Thomas Day furniture exhibit; it's long on furniture but very short on content, and would benefit from having less furniture and more interpretive information.
The museum is free to the public and very much worth visiting, but I think it would benefit from some architectural changes to better use the interior space. -
Review from Keiko C.
1/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
The NC Museum of History is a pretty cool place.
The overall flow of the museum could use some work. I had been here once before this weekend and both times found myself slightly disoriented and lost a few times.
The museum covers a lot of seemingly random material but when you stop trying to make sense of random photographs, the sports hall of fame, war memorabilia...you realize it's cohesive in the sense that it's North Carolina history. I think that piece is why I couldn't dock a star for the flow... it makes sense in that aspect.
The George Washington exhibit was great. By far the star of the show and really half of what the museum has to offer. If I were you I'd just pay the $10 [$8 for students-or drop outs with a student ID] visit that and not walk away disappointed.
Either way, it's a great way to kill a day between that and the Natural Sciences museum across the way.Listed in: Out and About in the Triangle
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Review from Mihae C.
Rockville, MD
8/12/2011
Who doesn't like FREE? Besides for Washington, D.C., which is near where I live, where else can you have access to so many free museums? Apparently, in Raleigh! My bf and I had a FREE day in Raleigh, where we went to several free museums. I enjoyed my time here but preferred NC Museum of Natural Sciences over this one (both are within walking distance to one another). I would still recommend coming here to check it out though, especially if you enjoy history.
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Review from David R.
9/8/2008
This museum is free. How can you complain about a free museum?
The collection is fairly eclectic, with most of the exhibits on the third floor. A Call to Arms showcased artifacts from the various wars that have touched the state since the American Revolution. Nearby is a small exhibit on the U.S.S. North Carolina, the first of the so-called "fast battleships" which marked a significant advance in shipbuilding and naval warfare. The ship was extensively active and highly decorated during World War II. In a corner of that floor is a large display of decorative arts such as ceramics, glass, and textiles.
I skipped several exhibits such as the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and A Thousand Words: Photographs by Vietnam War Veterans.
Not to be missed is the utterly ridiculous special exhibit Art DuckO: Waterfowl Culture in North Carolina. There are four large rooms full of waterfowl decoys used by hunters; a few dozen firearms; a couple of garish bird-carcass hats; and most excellently of all, a duck-hunt simulation game. Use a laser-pulse rifle to shoot video-game ducks! Fun for all ages (we played this game about ten times between us) but not exactly material for a serious museum. One more thing: the museum owns one of only about 200 known copies of Birds of America--John James Audubon's gorgeous seminal work. -
Review from Brian W.
Raleigh, NC
1/23/2009
I always feel like I'm in a low-end office building in RTP when I walk in here. The layout of the building is bizarrely unsuited to a museum, and makes the place feel temporary and confusing.
Even though it's FREE, I haven't been there more than two or three times in my life, because it's just not interesting enough. There's nothing holding the place together, so all the exhibits just seem like a bunch of stuff in a room. Boring. -
Review from Jamie M.
3/16/2009
I'm not one to complain about a free museum. We spent a drizzly Saturday morning here last weekend. I'd say the museum was pretty crowded around noon when we arrived but it was nothing compared to the hordes of tourists I'm used to up in the DC Smithsonian. It may have been more crowded than normal since they just opened an exhibit on Blackbeard the pirate that I believe was free for kids and $5 for adults. We didn't go in this time but maybe we'll check it out on our second trip later this month. The visitor parking lot across the street still had a few free spots left so we lucked out there.
This museum isn't huge, most of the exhibits are up on the third floor but we enjoyed a good hour and a half just wandering through the free exhibits. My boyfriend really enjoyed the Carbine Williams section. I was surprised that even the North Carolina's Governors exhibit was interesting. They copied the American History Museum in DC's tradition of showing dresses that were worn at inaugural balls.
I'm sure parents appreciated that the museum tried to provide kid friendly parts to most of the exhibits. Even the Decorative Arts section, which was mostly furniture and silverware had little books for kids so they could try to find objects hidden amongst the exhibit. -
Review from Michael C.
Raleigh, NC
2/20/2009
I moved to Raleigh from Los Angeles, and was very excited to visit the NC Museum of History. However, I was not at all blown away. The museum suffers from an identity crisis in a serious way, but that will hopefully be cured when the new "North Carolina History" exhibits open this year (funny... why wasn't the HISTORY of North Carolina involved when the museum first opened??)
The exhibits on transportation are pretty interesting, as are the war exhibits.
But really, in a building so large, and with so much potential, there should be so much more!
If I had to pay to get in, a 2-star rating would have been given. But free admission makes it "A-OK."
That being said - there is SO much more about the history of NC that could be told in the STATE history museum... Hopefully the new exhibits will deliver! -
Review from Franklin D.
Arlington Heights, IL
5/27/2009
Hmm, well leave it to me to find a way to have to pay to attend a "free" museum. We came here to check out the "Knights of the Black Flag" exhibit and were asked to pay $5 each to get in to this area of the building. Lots of pictures, lots of cannons and muskets, lots of stuff to read about Blackbeard, and a quick nod to modern pirates of Somalia at the end, and then some stuff for the kids to climb on at the end. Worth $5 ? Maybe....
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Review from Chuck B.
Wilmington, NC
1/27/2008
This museum is right next door to the Museum of Natural Sciences and I was a little disappointed by it. I have seen far superior history museums in cities a tenth the size of Raleigh. (Santa Fe, NM for example) I expected it to be full of exhibit after exhibit, although the building has three floors only a portion of the top floor had any exhibits. There was a nicely setup display of arms from the American Revolution to the Iraq War. Also a very interesting exhibit of Carbine Williams work in developing arms for World War II. The museum just covered so little history - it was just disappointing. There is so much history in this state that would make great exhibits. Perhaps in time, exhibits will expand to fill the available room in the museum. They also seem to have special events on weekends that are great for kids. The had a make your own rocket event, where kids build a rocket around plastic soda bottles and then got to launch them from a compressed air launcher outside - quite fun. I have to make comment about funding - I have noticed that many of the state funded museums are free here in North Carolina - perhaps they could charge $5 per person and have a monthly free day to help defray the cost of creating and maintaining these places. I just hate to think how many tax dollars are poured into these places each year and it wouldn't hurt to have them at least partially pay their way.
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Review from Jeff H.
Raleigh, NC
8/28/2007
I guess that I should state right now that I am a history buff, so naturally the history museum would appeal to me. If you don't like history, or museums, then you won't enjoy this. However, I think this museum has a lot of appeal even for those who aren't hard-core museum types. There is a lot relating to daily life and how people lived in the past that is really fascinating. There are permanent collections and rotating exhibits. There are aspects of many of the exhibits that are designed for kids, so they can touch things (actually some are interesting for adults, too, like the Civil War equipment that you can lift to sympathize with the poor guys in their wool uniforms carrying all this around in August!). We've gone on the weekends, and there have been staff manning carts with other things to pick up and handle and to provide more information. The museum itself is free, and if you go on weekends, the parking lot across the street is free, too. What could be a better deal than that?
