The History Museum on the Square, 154 Park Central Square, voted #1 New Attraction of America by USA Today!

The first floor of History Museum on the Square will be open from 6 pm to 9 pm for First Friday Art Walk.  Admission is free and guests are welcome to explore two galleries, Native Crossroads at the Spring and Voices of History, currently featuring We’ve Always Been Here- African American Stories in Greene County.

Located within the 104-year old former Barth’s department-store building and the one adjacent, the museum has more than 18,000-square feet of space, giving it room for continued expansion. There are three floors with eight dedicated spaces including a Welcome Center, six permanent galleries and the traveling exhibit space. The renovated basement houses staff offices enlarged workrooms and space for volunteers and interns.

The History Museum on the Square’s six permanent galleries include
• Native Crossroads at the Spring
• Trains, Trolleys and Transportation: Children’s Education Area
• Pioneers and Founders at the Crossroads
• The Civil War in Springfield
• Wild Bill Hickok and the American West; and
• Birthplace of Route 66

Highlights of the museum include a transportation gallery with a time machine built into a replica of a trolley car, an immersive reenactment chamber of the Hickok-Tutt confrontation, interactive touchscreen maps of Springfield comparing vintage photos to contemporary depictions, and a 66-foot long timeline and map of the Iconic Mother Road. Perhaps one of the most dramatic features is a one-third scale Frisco locomotive engine that literally emerges through the upper mezzanine wall.

Admission rates for the museum are $16 for adults; $13 for seniors (65-plus), students of any age with a valid ID, and members of the military and families; $10 for children ages 4-12; and free to those under the age of three. Groups of ten or more can be accommodated with 48-hours’-notice. For more information, and to view an online library of digitized historic photos, visit www.HistoryMuseumOnTheSquare.org.

The first floor of History Museum on the Square will be open from 6 pm to 9 pm for First Friday Art Walk.  Admission is free and guests are welcome to explore two galleries, Native Crossroads at the Spring and Voices of History, currently featuring We’ve Always Been Here- African American Stories in Greene County.

 (417) 831-1976  www.historymuseumonthesquare.org