This list of museums in New Hampshire is a list of museums, defined for this context as institutions (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 (i.e., virtual museums) are not included. Also included are non-profit art galleries.
Name | Location | County | Region | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abbot-Spaulding House | Nashua | Hillsborough | Operated by the Nashua Historical Society, Federal Revival style house | ||
Academy Hall Museum | Lyme | Grafton | Local history | [1] | |
Academy Museum | Walpole | Cheshire | Local history | Operated by the Walpole Historical Society, features large clothing collection | |
Aidron Duckworth Art Museum | Meriden | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | website, artworks of Aidron Duckworth | ||
Albany Historical Society Museum | Albany | Carroll | White Mountains Region | Local history | [2] |
Alstead Historical Museum | Alstead | Cheshire | Local history | Open Sundays in the summer[3] | |
Always Ready Engine House | Hollis | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Fire | Operated by the Hollis Historical Society, also contains a hearse[4] |
Exeter | Seacoast | History | Stories of the American Revolution, includes the 18th-century Ladd-Gilman House | ||
Manchester | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | History | Site of the first credit union founded in the United States | |
Amos J. Blake House Museum | Fitzwilliam | Cheshire | Historic house | Facebooksite, home of the Fitzwilliam Historical Society | |
Amoskeag Fishways Learning and Visitors Center | Manchester | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Natural history | website, environmental education center, exhibits focus on the Merrimack River watershed, historical use of the Amoskeag area, and river wildlife |
Railway | Includes a historic railroad station, also operates the Tucker Mountain Schoolhouse | ||||
Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Art | 140acres sculpture park | ||
Grafton | Railway | Operated by the Ashland Historical Society[5] | |||
AVA Gallery | Grafton | Art | website, operated by the Alliance for Visual Art | ||
Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Home of the New Hampshire Aviation Historical Society, located in Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, history of aviation in NH, aviation science and technology | |||
Hillsborough | Historic house | Federal style American mansion operated by Historic New England | |||
Industry | Historic textile mill, industrial knitting museum, art and history center | ||||
Bethlehem Heritage Society Museum | Grafton | White Mountains Region | Local history | [6] | |
Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Local history | Operated by the Boscawen Historical Society[7] | ||
Canaan Historical Society Museum | Grafton | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Local history | [8] | |
Campton Historical Society Museum | Grafton | White Mountains Region | Local history | [9] | |
Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Open-air | Includes 25 original and four reconstructed Shaker buildings on 694acres | ||
Carey House | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Historic house | website, home of the Milford Historical Society | |
Carroll | Lakes Region | Historic house | Arts & Crafts estate built in 1913-1914, over 45miles of trails on 5000acres, science programs for children | ||
Chapel Museum | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website, operated by the Historical Society of Amherst, NH | |
Chatham Historical Society Museum | Carroll | White Mountains Region | Local history | [10] | |
Chichester Historical Society Museum | Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Local history | [11] | |
Children's Museum of New Hampshire | website | ||||
Claremont Historical Society Museum | Local history | [12] | |||
Clark House Museum Complex | Carroll | Lakes Region | Historic house | website, operated by the Wolfeboro Historical Society, also includes a firehouse museum and schoolhouse | |
Grafton | White Mountains Region | Multiple | Includes trained bear show, White Mountain Central Railroad train rides, Seyranyan Family Circus, Americana Museum, Pemigewasset Hook and Ladder Fire Station, Clark Museum about the Clark family, Florence Murray Museum of oddities, Avery’s Garage and more | ||
Colebrook Area Historical Society | Coos | Local history | Museum located on 2nd floor of Colebrook Town Hall[13] | ||
Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Railway | website Historic site, railroad museum, and visitor center | ||
Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Art | European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture | ||
Danbury North Road Schoolhouse Museum | Merrimack | Lakes Region | Local history | 1853 red one-room schoolhouse operated by the Danbury Historical Society[14] | |
Belknap | Lakes Region | Historic house | website, managed by the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation, late 18th-century log cabin, birthplace of politician Daniel Webster | ||
Derry Museum of History | Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Local history | [15] | |
District #5 School | Education | Operated by the Washington Historical Society[16] | |||
Dorchester Historical Museum | Grafton | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Local history | [17] | |
Dublin Schoolhouse Museum | Cheshire | Local history | Operated by the Dublin Historical Society[18] | ||
Durham Historic Museum | Local history | Operated by the Durham Historic Association[19] | |||
Carroll | White Mountains Region | Historic house | Operated by the Conway Historical Society | ||
Elisha Marston House Museum | Carroll | Lakes Region | Local history | Home of the Sandwich Historical Society[20] | |
Grafton | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Religious | Shaker buildings and history | ||
Epping Historical Society Museum | Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | [21] [22] | |
Exeter Historical Society | Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | website, museum with artifacts of local history | |
Merrimack | Historic house | Early 20th century summer estate on 83 acres, located adjacent to the John Hay National Wildlife Refuge | |||
Fitts Museum | Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website | |
Florence H. Speare Memorial Museum | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website, operated by the Nashua Historical Society | |
Fort at Number 4 | 1744 period British fort with living history guides, set during King George's War | ||||
Francestown Improvement and Historical Society Museum | Hillsborough | Monadnock | History | website | |
Franconia Heritage Museum | Grafton | White Mountains Region | Local history | website | |
Hillsborough | Monadnock | Historic house | Operated by the Hillsborough Historical Society, early-19th-century childhood home of President Franklin Pierce | ||
Fremont Historical Museum | Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | Operated by the Fremont Historical Society[23] | |
Grafton | White Mountains Region | Historic house | Home of poet Robert Frost, museum and center for poetry and the arts | ||
Belknap | Lakes Region | Amusement | Arcade games, pinball machines, and electro-mechanic games built no later than 1987 | ||
Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | Operated by Historic New England, 18th-century house with exhibits on local history | ||
Harold S. Gilman Museum | Belknap | Lakes Region | Local history | Collection of guns, furniture, dolls, buttons, toys and local artifacts, operated by the Alton Historical Society[24] | |
Gilmanton Historical Society | Belknap | Lakes Region | Local history | Museum in the Old Town Hall in Gilmanton Iron Works[25] | |
Glidden Toy Museum | Grafton | Lakes Region | Toy | Operated by the Ashland Historical Society, more than two thousand antique toys, open in summer on a limited basis[26] | |
Goffstown Historical Society Museum | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website | |
Gorham Historical Society Museum | Railway | website, historic train depot, railroad cars and artifacts, model railroad | |||
Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | 18th-century-period mansion | ||
Carroll | Lakes Region | Local history | Operated by the Ossipee Historical Society[27] | ||
Great Bay Discovery Center | Rockingham | Seacoast | website, conservation-education headquarters for the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, interactive exhibits and natural trails | ||
Greenfield Historical Society Museum | Hillsborough | Monadnock | Local history | [28] | |
Hampstead Historic Library Museum | Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | website, collection of the Hampstead Historical Society | |
Hancock Historical Society | Hillsborough | Monadnock | Local history | website | |
Hartmann Model Railroad & Toy Museum | Carroll | White Mountains Region | Railway | website, information | |
Haverhill Historical Society Museum | Grafton | White Mountains Region | Local history | website | |
Henniker Historical Society Museum | Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website, located in Academy Hall | |
Henry Wilson Museum | Strafford | Local history | Operated by the Farmington Historical Society at the Goodwin Library[29] | ||
Historical Society of Cheshire County Museum | Local history | website, located in the former Ball Residence, also tours of Wyman Tavern | |||
Holderness Historical Society Museum | Grafton | Lakes Region | Local history | [30] | |
Hood Museum of Art | Grafton | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Art | Part of Dartmouth College, collections include art from ancient cultures, the Americas, Europe, Africa, Papua New Guinea and other world regions | |
Hopkins Center for the Arts | Hanover | Grafton | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Art | Part of Dartmouth College, includes performing and visual arts center |
Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Local history | Housed in the William H. Long Memorial Building | ||
Horatio Colony House | Cheshire | Historic house | website | ||
Hudson Historical Society | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | Located in the late 19th-century Hills House | |
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | Operated by Historic New England, 17th-century house | |
Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | Early 18th-century house | ||
Jefferson Historical Society Museum | Coos | Local history | [31] [32] | ||
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | History | Operated by the Portsmouth Historical Society, 18th-century home lived in by American naval hero John Paul Jones, features exhibits of local history | |
Historic house | Operated by the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation | ||||
Kendall Shop Museum and Carriage House | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | Operated by the Bedford Historical Society[33] | |
Kimball House Museum | Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | Operated by the Atkinson Historical Society[34] | |
Kimball Jenkins Estate | Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Art | website, art school with public galleries | |
Laconia Historical and Museum Society | Belknap | Lakes Region | Local history | website, exhibits and programs at the Laconia Public Library | |
Lake Winnipesaukee Museum | Belknap | Lakes Region | Local history | website, operated by the Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society | |
Lane Tavern | Belknap | Lakes Region | Local history | website, home of the Sanbornton Historical Society | |
Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Scouting | Located at Camp Carpenter, Boy Scout memorabilia and library | ||
Lee Historical Society Museum | Local history | [35] [36] | |||
Wolfeboro | Carroll | Lakes Region | Natural history | Open seasonally | |
Lisbon Area Historical Museum | Grafton | White Mountains Region | Local history | [37] | |
Little Nature Museum | Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | website | ||
Sullivan | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | School | Operated by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution | ||
Littleton Area Historical Society | Grafton | White Mountains Region | Local history | [38] | |
Lockhaven Schoolhouse Museum | Grafton | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | School | information | |
Loon Center | Carroll | Lakes Region | website | ||
Madison Historical Society Museum | Carroll | Lakes Region | Local history | [39] | |
Main Street House Museum | Merrimack | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | History | website, operated by the Warner Historical Society in the Upton/Chandler House | |
Main Street Museum | Belknap | Lakes Region | Local history | website, home of the Meredith Historical Society | |
Grafton | White Mountains Region | Art | Includes an art gallery, programs in art, science, nature and children's literature | ||
Marion Blodgett Museum | Local history | Operated by the Cohos Historical Society[40] | |||
Mariposa Museum | Hillsborough | Monadnock | Culture | website, folk art, textiles, costumes, art, puppets, toys and instruments from six continents | |
Marshall House Museum | Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | Open by appointment with the Newton Historical Society[41] | |
Grafton | Lakes Region | Historic house | website | ||
Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Air and space science | Exhibits on astronomy, engineering, Earth and space sciences, honors the memories of Christa McAuliffe and Alan Shepard | ||
Melville Academy Museum | Local history | website, operated by the Jaffrey Historical Society | |||
Merrimack Historical Society Museum | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website | |
Millyard Museum | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website, operated by the Manchester Historic Association in the historic Amoskeag Millyard, city history, immigrants, textile industry | |
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | Owned and operated by the National Society of the Colonial Dames in the State of New Hampshire, 18th-century house reflecting owners from 1763 through 1900 | |
Moffett House Museum & Genealogy Center | Local history | website, operated by the Berlin and Coos Historical Society | |||
Monadnock Center for History and Culture | Hillsborough | Monadnock | Local history | website, operated by the Peterborough Historical Society, includes a late 18th-century period kitchen, early American furniture and decorative arts, local history and culture | |
Mont Vernon Historical Society Museum | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | [42] | |
Morrison House Museum | Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Historic house | website, operated by the Londonderry Historical Society, 18th-century farmhouse | |
Carroll | Lakes Region | Local history | Operated by the Moultonborough Historical Society | ||
Mount Kearsarge Indian Museum | Merrimack | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | website | ||
Mount Washington Observatory Museum | Science | website, focuses on weather and geology | |||
MWV Children's Museum | Carroll | White Mountains Region | Children's | website | |
Grafton | Lakes Region | History | Operated by Plymouth State University, history, culture, and environmental legacy of the region | ||
Museum of White Mountain Art | Carroll | White Mountains Region | Multiple | website, operated by the Jackson Historical Society, display of White Mountain School of Art paintings as well as changing local history exhibits, permanent exhibit of old maps of the area | |
Muster Field Farm Museum | Merrimack | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Agriculture | website, working farm museum with 18th-century homestead | |
New England Racing Museum | Merrimack | Lakes Region | Sports - Motor Racing | History of motor racing within the New England Region website | |
Grafton | White Mountains Region | Sports - Skiing | History of commercial and recreational skiing in the northeastern United States, located in Franconia Notch State Park | ||
New Hampshire Boat Museum | Carroll | Lakes Region | website | ||
New Hampshire Farm Museum | Agriculture | Includes historic farmhouse and tavern, agricultural machinery, farm tools, sleighs and wagons, farm animals | |||
Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | History | State history and culture | ||
New Hampshire Snowmobile Museum | Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Sports | Located in Bear Brook State Park | |
Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Historic building | Guided and self-guided tours available on weekdays | ||
New Hampshire Telephone Museum | Merrimack | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Commodity | website, collection of historic telephones | |
New London Historical Society | Merrimack | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | website, small village of 19th-century buildings and many horse-drawn vehicles | ||
Local history | |||||
Northern Forest Heritage Park | Industry | website, includes full-size replica logging camp, logging tools and equipment, Brown Company House Museum, artisans display gallery, 3 acre park | |||
Northwood Historical Society Museum | Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Local history | [43] | |
Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Education | Open by appointment, historic schoolhouse | ||
Carroll | Lakes Region | Historic store | |||
Webster | Merrimack | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Local history | ||
Old River Road School | Grafton | Lakes Region | Local history | information, scroll down to Bridgewater Historical Society | |
Old Town Hall | Rockingham | Seacoast | History | website | |
Patuccoway Grange Museum | Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | History | Open by appointment, implements of farming, early industry and home life[44] | |
Peabody Farm Museum | Local history | [45] | |||
Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | Historic house | |||
Pittsburg Historical Society Museum | Local history | Museum located in Town Hall[46] | |||
Plaistow Historical Society | Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | website | |
Grafton | Lakes Region | Local history | Located in a former county courthouse and library | ||
Poore Family Homestead and Historic Farm Museum | Coos | Historic house | website, historic farmstead that portrays one family's life from the 1830s to the 1980s | ||
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Library | Includes museum gallery with changing exhibitions from its collections | |
Pottle Meeting House | Belknap | Lakes Region | Agriculture | Operated by the Meredith Historical Society, historic farm tools and agriculture equipment | |
Quimby Transportation Museum | Carroll | Lakes Region | Transportation | Operated by the Sandwich Historical Society, horse-drawn vehicles[47] | |
Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Railway | Local history and railroad artifacts | ||
Carroll | Lakes Region | Agriculture | Working farm museum with museum farmhouse of a country doctor | ||
Richard Diehl Civilian Conservation Corps Museum | Allenstown | Merrimack | Merrimack Valley | History | Work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in New Hampshire, located in Bear Brook State Park |
Rindge Historical Society Museum | Cheshire | Monadnock | Local history | [48] | |
Robert Frost Farm | Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Historic house | Home of poet Robert Frost | |
Strafford | Seacoast | Art | Contemporary art in all media | ||
Rumney Historical Society Museum | Grafton | Lakes Region | Local history | [49] | |
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | Operated by Historic New England, early-19th-century mansion reflecting four generations of ownership | |
Rye Historical Society Museum | Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | website | |
Historic house | Home, gardens, and studios of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens | ||||
Salem Historical Museum | Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Local history | Located in the Old Town Meeting House[50] | |
Salisbury Historical Society Museum | Merrimack | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Local history | website | |
Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | Located in a historic depot | ||
Rockingham | Seacoast | website, marine science nature center | |||
SEE Science Center | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | website | ||
Sharon Arts Center | Hillsborough | Monadnock | Art | website, arts center with fine art gallery | |
Sheridan House Museum | Cheshire | Local history | Operated by the Winchester Historical Society[51] | ||
Springfield Historical Museum | Local history | Operated by the Springfield Historical Society[52] | |||
Stone Building Museum | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website home of the Weare Historical Society | |
Rockingham | Seacoast | Local history | Operated by the Newmarket Historical Society | ||
Strawbery Banke | Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Living | Includes 10 houses with costumed interpreters reflecting the 17th through the 19th centuries, crafts demonstrations |
Sugar Hill Historical Museum | Grafton | White Mountains Region | History | [53] | |
Summersworth Historical Society | Strafford | Seacoast | Local history | [54] [55] | |
Thompson-Ames Historical Society Museums | Belknap | Lakes Region | Local history | website, operates three museums that are open by appointment: Mount Belknap Grange, Union Meetinghouse, Benjamin Rowe House | |
Coos | White Mountains Region | History | Former hotel on Mount Washington | ||
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | Adjacent to Wentworth-Gardner House, mid 18th-century house | |
Troy Historical Society Museum | Cheshire | Monadnock | Local history | [56] | |
Tuck Museum | Rockingham | Seacoast | Open-air | website, includes Tuck Memorial Museum, Farm Museum, Seacoast Fire Museum and the 19th-Century District Schoolhouse | |
Tuftonboro Historical Society Museum | Carroll | Lakes Region | Local history | information | |
University of New Hampshire Museum | Local history | Located in the Dimond Library, hosts two exhibitions each year about the history of the University of New Hampshire[57] | |||
Upper Pemigewasset Historical Society and Museum | Grafton | White Mountains Region | Local history | website | |
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Decommissioned submarine | ||
Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | History | Open by appointment, local history | ||
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | 18th-century brick mansion, reflects six generations of family ownership | |
Warren Historical Museum | Grafton | White Mountains Region | Local history | Operated by the Warren Historical Society[58] | |
Washington Historical Society Museum | Local history | [59] | |||
Webster Cottage Museum | Grafton | Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee | Historic house | 18th-century farmhouse and residence of Daniel Webster as a student at Dartmouth College, operated by the Hanover Historical Society[60] | |
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | 18th-century mansion of New Hampshire's first royal governor | |
Portsmouth | Rockingham | Seacoast | Historic house | 18th-century mansion, adjacent to Tobias Lear House | |
Westmoreland Historical Society | Cheshire | Monadnock | Local history | [61] | |
Wheeler House | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | Home of the Hollis Historical Society[62] | |
Grafton | Lakes Region | Local history | Operated by the Ashland Historical Society | ||
Wigwam Museum | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Local history | website, operated by the Historical Society of Amherst, NH | |
Coos | Historic house | Operated by the Lancaster Historical Society | |||
Windham Museum | Rockingham | Merrimack Valley | Local history | Open for events and by appointment[63] | |
Works Barn Museum & Allard House | Carroll | Lakes Region | History | Operated by the Freedom Historical Society[64] | |
Multiple | Rocks & minerals, Indian artifacts, mammals & marine life, birds & butterflies, shells, snakes & turtles, dolls, military items, maps & documents, maritime, household and local history artifacts | ||||
Wright Museum | Carroll | Lakes Region | Military | website, dedicated to celebrating Americans' sacrifices and achievements during WWII | |
Cheshire | Monadnock | Historic House | Owned by the Cheshire County Historical Society | ||
Manchester | Hillsborough | Merrimack Valley | Historic house | Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, operated by the Currier Museum of Art | |