Missouri State Museum

The Missouri State Museum is Missouri's showpiece museum. It was founded in 1919 and is located in Jefferson City, Missouri, inside the state capitol on the ground floor of the building.

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The museum portrays, through exhibits and special programming, the diverse culture of Missouri's past and present, the many natural resources the state contains and the diverse history of Missouri: her people, and her resources. Inside, a visitor will find a variety of exhibits including temporary changing exhibits, stationary historical exhibits and hands-on interactive and audio exhibits. There is currently an interactive hands-on Civil War exhibit geared toward children to teach them about a Missouri soldier's life in the Civil War. This is one of the most popular exhibits currently at the museum. The museum has over 65,000 artifacts in its collection. These range from the furs of native Missouri animals, to Missouri Civil War battle flags, some of which have been restored and are on display.

The history wing of the museum was originally the only part of the museum and is now in the eastern wing of the capitol building. In 1921, the Missouri Resources Museum was founded and placed in the wing directly opposite the state museum in the west wing of the capitol. The two merged in 1923 to form the Missouri State Museum. The museum was controlled by a variety of state agencies until 1978. In that year the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) took control of the museum where it has been every since. It is now part of DNR's Division of State Parks.

Along with providing visitors a chance to learn about Missouri through the many exhibits and hands-on opportunities, the museum staff also provides tours of the capitol building itself.