Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum

LOCATION

300 N Dixie Hwy,
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

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PHONE

561-832-4164

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FREE ADMISSION

Open 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Closed Sundays


The museum opened to the public in March 2008 within the historic 1916 Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach. The Historical Society of Palm Beach County is a leading resource for Palm Beach County history, housing a permanent collection of millions of objects and images, that span over 12,000 years of Palm Beach County and Florida history.


The People Gallery is a tribute to more than 100 individuals and families who have contributed to the development of Palm Beach County. Exhibits include: A video display projecting images of people from all walks of Palm Beach County life. Kiosks and exhibits with artifacts to help tell the stories behind the colorful characters of the past, including Pre-Columbian inhabitants, Seminole Indians, early pioneers. In The Place Gallery, models and photographs explore Palm Beach County’s natural environment and the animals and ecology that make it unique. Here exhibits include a giant mosquito, banyan tree, snake, alligator, and a recreation of a “palmetto shack,” the frond-topped dwellings the first pioneers built for themselves.

In addition to its permanent People and Places galleries, the museum presents temporary exhibits on a wide variety of topics to appeal to a diverse audience. An in-depth Special Exhibit opens each fall at the museum. Short-term exhibits, on loan or created in-house, rotate year-round in the Courtroom Gallery on the 3rd floor of the 1916 Courthouse. Outdoor exhibits on the courthouse grounds have been introduced during the pandemic, as have virtual exhibits.


page information credit: Historical Society of Palm Beach County
photos from the sources listed above, as well as publicly posted online sites with thanks to the contributors