Befitting the nation's largest state, Alaska has dozens of museums spread from Ketchikan to Kotzebue and from Unalaska to Anchorage.
Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum
The museum overlooks Lake Hood, the world's busiest float plane lake. It has 20 airplanes on display, including a 1944 Grumman Goose amphibian, a 1928 Stearman, a Stinson L-1 and an Army reconnaissance aircraft that's the only one still flying. The museum also offers a presentation of Alaska's aviation heritage and its flying pioneers and veterans. Exhibits include photo displays of early bush pilots and the Alaska Aviation Hall of Fame.
WHERE: 4721 Aircraft Drive
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily May 15-Sept. 15; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday- Sunday in the winter.
COST: $10 adults with discounts for military, $8 seniors and $6 children
PHONE: 248-5325
WEB: alaskaairmuseum.org
Alaska Heritage Museum at Wells Fargo
The free museum is home to some beautiful and historical Alaska items. Visitors will see more than 900 Alaska Native artifacts and baskets that date back hundreds of years, ivory carvings, baleen baskets and artwork by Sydney Laurence, Fred Machetanz, Ted Lambert and others. A 46-troy-ounce gold nugget is featured. The nugget is 5 inches long and is the largest on display in Alaska. In 2010 the museum will feature a pair of traditionally made grass socks created by June Pardue, who is Alutiiq and Inupiaq.
WHERE: Wells Fargo Bank building, 301 W. Northern Lights Blvd.
WHEN: Noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Memorial Day to Labor Day; noon-4 p.m. Monday through Friday in winter.
COST: Free
PHONE: 265-2834
WEB: www.wellsfargohistory.com
Alaska Native Heritage Center
The world-class culture and education center shares the diverse cultures of Alaska's 11 indigenous groups. Visitors can experience Alaska Native culture firsthand through storytelling, Native song and dance, artist demonstrations, Native games demonstrations and six life-size replicas of Native dwellings.
WHERE: 8800 Heritage Center Drive
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, mid-May to mid-September
COST: $24.95 adults, $21.15 military and seniors 65 and older, $16.95 children ages 7-16, free ages 6 and younger; resident rates are $9.95 adults and $6.95 children
PHONE: 330-8000
WEB: alaskanative.net
Alaska State Troopers Museum
The museum tells the history of law enforcement in Alaska as a territory and as a state. It features exhibits, original art, memorabilia and photographs, including trooper uniforms and a restored 1952 Hudson Hornet police car. There is a gift shop.
WHERE: 245 W. Fifth Ave., Suite 113
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays
COST: Free
PHONE: 800-770-5050, 279-5050
WEB: alaskatroopermuseum.com
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
The state's largest museum brings thousands of years of history and beautiful artwork together in one place. In 2009 the museum opened Phase I of its $106 million expansion, and May will bring the opening of Phase II. The new Imaginarium Discovery Center and planetarium, previously located on Fifth Avenue, reopens with 80 exhibits on physics, astronomy, geology, geography and life sciences. The new Imaginarium will be almost five times the size of the previous interactive science center. Also, the Smithsonian is lending more than 600 indigenous Alaska artifacts for exhibition in the new Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, opening in May at the museum. The 10,000-square-foot exhibit will feature many objects never before displayed, including an 1866 Gwich'in Athabascan tunic with dyed quill designs, one of the Smithsonian's oldest objects; an 1880s Inupiaq caribou skin parka; and a 1903 Tlingit crest hat made of woven spruce root.
WHERE: 625 C St.
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, mid-May through mid-September; winter hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
COST: $10 adults; $8 seniors, students and military; $7 ages 3 to 12; and free for ages 2 and younger
PHONE: 343-4326
WEB: anchoragemuseum.org
Alaska Museum of Natural History
Explore 1 billion years of Alaska's natural history with a touchable collection of Alaska rocks, minerals and fossils. The permanent collection includes a paleontology/archaeology pit, dinosaur and ice age fossils and many touchable mounts of Alaska animals. Explore Alaska's birds, dinosaurs, geology and more.
WHERE: 201 N. Bragaw St.
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays
COST: $5 adults, $3 children and students, $4 military and seniors
PHONE: 274-2400
WEB: alaskamuseum.org
Oscar Anderson House Museum
The house, built in 1915 by Swedish immigrant Oscar Anderson, is one of the city's first. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is Anchorage's only house museum. Many of the original artifacts belonging to the family are in the home.
WHERE: 420 M St.
WHEN: Guided tours from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays, June 1 to mid-September
COST: $3 adults, $1 children ages 5 to 12
PHONE: 274-2336
