Kansas has its share of must-see museums, on and off the beaten path (+video)

All of Kansas’ more than 300 public museums tell great stories.

But if we made a bucket list of must-see museums in our state, these are the ones we would pick.

Our criteria was to look at how well a museum portrayed aspects of our Kansas history, how much a visitor can learn in a visit, and how uniquely that story is told.

We actually made three lists: top 10 must-see museums; top 10 “off the beaten path” museums worth a visit; and, if you don’t want to stray too far from Wichita, some interesting nearby museums.

10 must-see museums in Kansas:

Flint Hills Discovery Center

Address: 315 S. 3rd St., Manhattan

Phone: 785-587-2726

Website: www.flinthillsdiscovery.org

The museum tells the story of the tallgrass prairie and ecosystem of the Flint Hills, It offers interactive exhibits and an immersive experience theater where visitors can feel the wind in their hair, smell prairie fire smoke and see snow fall.

Kansas Museum of History

Address: 6425 SW 6th Ave., Topeka

Phone: 785-272-8681

Website: www.kshs.org/museum

The museum offers an overview of our state’s history. Permanent exhibits include the Santa Fe railroad’s oldest surviving locomotive, Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s riding boots and A.K. Longren’s plane in which the first successful plane flight was made in 1911.

Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum

Address: 111 N. Lincoln Ave., Chanute

Phone: 620- 431-2730

Website: www.safarimuseum.com

Martin and Osa Johnson were world famous during the first half of the 20th century for their films and books about remote locales. Together they traveled the world photographing the wildlife and people of east and central Africa, the South Pacific Islands and British North Borneo.

Thomas County Historical Society and Prairie Museum of Art and History

Address: 1905 S. Franklin Ave., Colby

Phone: 785-460-4590

Website: prairiemuseum.org

The museum houses one of the largest barns in Kansas – the Cooper barn, built in 1936. The barn has been named one of the 8 Architectural Wonders of Kansas. Other exhibits include information on Samuel Ramey, one of Kansas’ most famous and favorite opera stars.

Miners Hall Museum

Address: 701 S. Broadway, Franklin

Phone: 620-347-4220

Website: www.minershallmuseum.com

The museum focuses on the rich history surrounding southeast Kansas’ coal mining legacy. It addresses the “Amazon Army,” the women who championed labor laws on behalf of their husbands and sons. In December 1921, between 2,000 and 6,000 women marched to 63 mines in southeast Kansas, protesting unfair labor practices.

Constitution Hall

Address: 319 Elmore St., Lecompton

Phone: 785-887-6520

Website: www.kshs.org/constitution_hall

Constitution Hall is where the Lecompton Constitution was drafted in 1857. Delegates tried to develop a state constitution that was acceptable to supporters and opponents of slavery. It failed, and the debate surrounding it soon became a political firestorm across the nation.

Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art

Address: 701 Beach Drive, Manhattan

Phone: 785-532-7718

Website: beach.k-state.edu

The museum focuses on Kansas artists and regional art. Its collection includes more than 7,000 objects, prints, paintings and photographs.

Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home

Address: 200 SE 4th St., Abilene

Phone: 785-263-4751

Website: www.eisenhower.archives.gov/

It is as much a time capsule as it is a museum. Exhibits include Eisenhower’s life as a boy and his journey from West Point to the White House, including the years he spent as a five-star general and supreme commander of the Allied forces during World War II.

Amelia Earhart’s Birthplace Museum

Address: 223 N. Terrace St., Atchison

Phone: 913-367-4217

Website: www.ameliaearhartmuseum.org

The house was built in 1862 by Earhart’s grandfather and sits across the street from the Missouri River. On display are Earhart’s writing desk, cedar chest, luggage and monogrammed scarves.

Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Address: 3000 Sternberg Drive, Hays

Phone: 785-628-4286

Website: sternberg.fhsu.edu

For more than a century, a family from Hays made a series of incredible discoveries in western Kansas rock formations. Five men from the Sternberg family influenced the science of paleontology more than any other family and became famous as commercial fossil collectors.

10 “off the beaten path” museums

Stauth Memorial Museum

Address: 111 N. Aztec St., Montezuma

Phone: 620-846-2527

Website: stauthmemorialmuseum.org

Although the 238-mile trip from Wichita to Montezuma may seem daunting, it’s worth it. The Stauth Memorial Museum often features traveling exhibits by the Smithsonian, Exhibits USA and other national and international exhibit sources.

Kauffman Museum

Address: 2801 N. Main St., North Newton

Phone: 316-283-1612

Website: kauffman.bethelks.edu

The museum at Bethel College features a tallgrass prairie reconstruction with more than 15 species of grass and more than 100 wildflower species. It also tells the story of the Mennonites coming from Europe to Kansas.

John Brown Museum State Historical Site

Address: 1000 Main St., Osawatomie

Phone: 913-755-4384

Website: www.kshs.org/john_brown

The Adair Cabin in Osawatomie helps tell the Kansas story of John Brown and his family. A militant abolitionist, Brown helped free slaves and lead skirmishes against pro-slavery forces. The Adair Cabin in Osawatomie was built in 1854.

The Columbian Theatre and Art Center

Address: 521 Lincoln St., Wamego

Phone: 785-456-2029

Website: www.columbiantheatre.com/main.asp

In 1893, Wamego banker J.C. Rogers attended the Chicago World’s Fair and bought numerous paintings and objects from the fair for his new music hall in Wamego. The theater has been renovated and restored to much of its original beauty.

National Orphan Train Museum Complex

Address: 300 Washington St., Concordia

Phone: 785-243-4471

Website: orphantraindepot.org

It’s estimated that between 1854 and 1929, more than 150,000 orphans were shipped to small frontier towns on passenger trains nicknamed “orphan trains.” Museum exhibits include information about the movement, the Children’s Aid Society and the New York Foundling Hospital.

Walter P. Chrysler Boyhood Home and Museum

Address: 102 W. 10th St., Ellis

Phone: 785-726-3636

Website: www.chryslerboyhoodhome.com

Considered one of the greatest car makers of the 20th century, Walter Chrysler got his start in Kansas. Born in Wamego and raised in Ellis, his boyhood home has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972.

The Gordon Parks Center for Culture and Diversity

Address: 2108 S. Horton, Fort Scott

Phone: 800-874-3722, ext. 51

Website: www.kansastravel.org/gordonparksmuseum

A Kansas native, Gordon Parks rose from poverty and segregation in Fort Scott to become one of the nation’s most distinguished artistic icons. The museum features more than 50 of Parks’ autographed photographs and 14 samples of his poetry.

Watkins Museum of History

Address: 1047 Massachusetts St., Lawrence

Phone: 785-841-4109

Website: www.watkinsmuseum.org

The museum tells the history of Douglas County, which from its earliest beginnings was a proponent of abolition. The story is of its free-state struggles and the effects of the Civil War, Quantrill’s Raid in 1863 and how the community time and again rose from the ashes.

Kansas Barbed Wire Museum

Address: 120 W. 1st St., La Crosse

Phone: 785-222-9900

Website: www.kansastravel.org/kansasbarbedwiremuseum.htm

The museum has more than 2,000 barbed wire samples, manufactured from 1870 to 1890. Visitors can also see hundreds of antique fencing tools and view the Barbed Wire Hall of Fame. The Post Rock Museum tells the story of how limestone was quarried and used to cut posts for fencing.

Cherokee Strip Land Rush Museum

Address: 31639 U.S. 77, Arkansas City

Phone: 620-442-6750

Website: www.arkcity.org/index.aspx?ID=216

The Cherokee Strip Land Rush Museum features historic photos and exhibits of the Cherokee Strip Land Rush of Sept. 16, 1893. It also tells the stories of Native Americans.

Five Wichita-area museums worth seeing

Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum

Address: 204 S. Main, Wichita

Phone: 316-265-9314

Website: wichitahistory.org

The museum is in Wichita’s old City Hall building, built in 1892 and once known as the “Palace of the Plains” for its distinctive architecture. Exhibits and artifacts tell stories that include the meteoric rise of Wichita from cow town to Air Capital of the World, famous Wichitans, Depression years and Native American legacies.

Strataca

Address: 3650 E. Avenue G, Hutchinson

Phone: 866-755-3450

Website: underkansas.org/

Drop 650 feet in 80 seconds by elevator to one of the world’s largest underground salt mines. Exhibits include the types of transportation and tools that miners have used through the decades. You also can tour a replica of the underground vaults Hollywood has used for decades to store original copies of movies, including “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone With the Wind.”

Kansas Oil Museum

Address: 383 E. Central Ave., El Dorado

Phone: 316-321-9333

Website: www.kansasoilmuseum.org

Stapleton Oil Well No. 1 was the first oil field discovered using geologic surveys and geologists. It took the industry from a mere guessing game of luck and chance to a field of science. It was a major source of oil for the Allied effort during World War I.

Mid-America All-Indian Center

Address: 650 N. Seneca, Wichita

Phone: 316-350-3340

Website: www.theindiancenter.org

Wichita was named for the tribe of American Indians who inhabited the area from 1864 to 1867. The Mid-America All-Indian Center houses a museum, art gallery, gift shop and kiva. The museum has traditional artifacts and works by contemporary Native American artists.

Kansas African American Museum

Address: 601 N. Water, Wichita

Phone: 316-262-765

Website: tkaamuseum.net

The museum, located in the former Calvary Baptist Church at 601 N. Water, was built in 1917 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of a few surviving buildings from Wichita’s black business district and features works from nationally known artists such as Samella Lewis and Elizabeth Catlett.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Kansas has its share of must-see museums, on and off the beaten path (+video)."