Museums & History
Immerse yourself in Richmond and Wayne County, Indiana's rich history and culture. Discover places of the past, get hands on with interactive displays, enjoy educational tours and investigate fascinating artifacts - the perfect museum is just waiting to be explored.
Richmond, Indiana has the only two permanent mummy displays in the state of Indiana - located at Wayne County Historical Museum & Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History. Richmond Art Museum is the oldest cultural institution in Wayne County and the second oldest art museum in Indiana. The Richmond Art Museum is the only active public art museum housed within an active public high school in the United States. The Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History has a 15,000 year old mastodon fossil on display - see the state's official fossil up close and personal!
Mystery on Main will take participants on an adventure across four Main Streets in Cambridge City, Centerville, Hagerstown, and Richmond. Those looking to complete the trail will visit five buildings in each community (20 total) in order to crack the case.
This new site marker at Glen Miller Park sits located directly across the street from the former Exhibition Park. Exhibition Park was home to a baseball stadium where the Richmond Giants played.
Built in 1902 and designed in Neo-Classical style, the Pennsylvania Depot was designed by a world famous architect named Daniel Hudson Burnham and is one of the area’s most prominent landmarks. For much of the twentieth century, the depot was the center of life for Richmond as train travel was one of the most efficient means of transportation at that time.
Fine art museum, founded in 1898, featuring Indiana artists and American art including, T.C. Steele, John E. Bundy, Wayman Adams, Wm. Merritt Chase, Robert Reid, Childe Hassam, and Overbeck pottery. Richmond Art Museum is the oldest cultural institution in Wayne County and the second oldest art museum in Indiana.
Built in 1812, the log courthouse is the oldest existing courthouse in Indiana. Salisbury was a small settlement just south and about midway between Richmond and Centerville. Salisbury has long since disappeared. Open for local festivals and by appointment.
The Starr Historic District, listed on the National Register, was developed from farmland bought by Charles and Elizabeth Starr from Jeremiah Cox, a Richmond founder. The land was subdivided into lots in the early 1850s and sold for residential construction.
Built in 1906, it still draws attention at the corner of North A and 11th streets. The interior is even more eye-catching, with a dramatic fan-vaulted ceiling, carved wooden trim, a historic organ built by Boston’s Hook and Hastings, and 62 stained-glass windows and furnishings by New York’s Tiffany Studios.
Memorial Park contains memorials from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Womens Memorial, Purple Heart Memorial and more all along the scenic Whitewater River. Two M3A3 Stuart tanks, a HUEY helicopter, M60 Tank, two naval guns, a new A-6 intruder aircraft (2022) and more reside in the park as well.
Comprised of eight buildings on a compact site, the museum is a unique repository of Wayne County and Richmond history from early pioneer life through the industrial revolution into modern times.
Crossing through a number of scenic and historic southeastern Indiana countries, the Whitewater Canal Scenic Byway bridges the distance (76 miles) between the Ohio River and the historic National Road. Along this route are some of the state's most authentic canal features.
The Indiana State Historic Site Canal Boat Run, located in Old Metamora offers horse-pulled canal boat rides for your pleasure. A restored and operational Grist Mill, powered by the water of the canal, offers a unique opportunity to watch whole grains milled into cornmeal and grits.
Mill is free; Admission charged for canal boat.
Long before woolly mammoths roamed the frozen plains,
long before dinosaurs existed, Indiana was covered by a shallow sea teaming with life.
The fossils found in the Whitewater Valley give us some idea of what life was like in Indiana 445 million years ago.
Full-scale replica of 1903 Wilbur Flyer. Kitty Hawk video. Displays of family history with Wright Brothers struggles and successes before and after Kitty Hawk. 1903 Main Street includes print and bicycle shops. Wilbur's rebuilt birth home. Be sure to stop at the gift shop as well.