This list of museums in Connecticut contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Non-profit and university art galleries are also included. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included.
Inclusion in this list is generally for institutions with the name "museum" in the title. Some other institutions not included here are very like museums, and some "museums" here don't fit the typical definition of a place that shows exhibits. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, for instance, is a historic mansion in which the "exhibit" is essentially the building itself. For Wikipedia links to institutions similar to museums in Connecticut, consult the "See also" section.
Museums
To use the sortable table, click on the icons at the top of each column to sort that column in alphabetical order; click again for reverse alphabetical order.
Defunct museums
- Bristol Military Memorial Museum, Bristol - collections now at the Bristol Historical Society
- Burndy Library - formerly in Norwalk, collection is now in The Huntington Library in San Marino, California and in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
- Children's Garbage Museum, Stratford - closed in 2011
- Connecticut Sports Museum & Hall of Fame - formerly located in the Hartford Civic Center, 2nd floor
- Day-Lewis Museum of Indian Artifacts, Farmington - owned by Yale University, formerly operated by the Farmington Historical Society, collection of Tunxis artifacts found on the grounds of the Lewis Walpole Library, closed in 2005
- Dequaine Museums, Meriden - included National Shaving & Barbershop Museum, Frank Chiarenza Museum of Glass, Rosa Ponselle Museum,
- Farm Implement Museum, Bloomfield - was dedicated to the history of farming in New England and displayed farm tools dating from the 1790s
- Golden Age of Trucking Museum, Middlebury- antique trucks, carriages and collectibles, closed July, 2010; website
- Hartford Police Museum, Hartford - formerly located at 101 Pearl Street, confirmed closed by phone 2/12/08
- Hitchcock Museum, Riverton - collection of furnishings from the Hitchcock Chair Company, closed in 2003
- Holley-Williams House Museum, Lakeville - previously operated by the Salisbury Association, sold to private owner
- Horse Guard Cavalry Museum, Avon - museum is now just a case with uniforms
- Huntington House Museum, Windsor, closed in 2005, now private
- Kerosene Lamp Museum, Winchester
- Menczer Museum of Medicine and Dentistry, Hartford - operated by the Hartford Medical Society, closed in 2008, collections now at area hospitals and Tunxis Community College
- Museum of American Political Life, West Hartford - collection of political campaign memorabilia, formerly in the Harry Jack Gray Center at University of Hartford, closed in 2003
- National Purple Heart Museum, Enfield - proposed museum, never completed
- Nehemiah Royce House, Wallingford - now private
- Neil's American Dream Museum, West Hartford New York Times, "WEST HARTFORD JOURNAL; A Museum Enshrines a Simpler Era's Dreams", January 21, 1993
- New England Center for the Contemporary Arts, Brooklyn
- New England Muscle Bicycle Museum, Bloomfield
- Norwalk Museum, Norwalk - closed in 2012, collections in storage
- Nut Museum, Old Lyme
- Photomobile Model Museum, Woodstock - solar electric small-scale car, boat, plane, train and maglev vehicles
- Salisbury Cannon Museum, Lakeville - currently closed; Salisbury Cannon Museum website
- Somers Mountain Museum, Somers - collection of Native American and early settler tools
- Submarine Library and Museum, Middletown - closed in 2003, collection now in St. Marys Submarine Museum, St. Marys, Georgia
- Timexpo Museum, Waterbury, closed in 2015
See also
- Aquaria: Category:Aquaria in Connecticut
- Botanical gardens: Category:Botanical gardens in Connecticut
- Historical societies: List of Historical Societies#Connecticut
- Libraries: Category:Libraries in Connecticut
- Nature centers: List of nature centers in Connecticut
- Observatories: Category:Astronomical observatories in Connecticut
External links
- Connecticut Humanities directory of towns including references to museums
- Visit Connecticut
- Connecticut Museum Quest
- Historic Buildings of Connecticut
- Jerry Dougherty's CONNECTICUT, photos of towns and sites in Connecticut, including some museums
References
