This list of museums in Boston, Massachusetts, is a list of museums (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. Museums that exist only in cyberspace are not included. Also included are non-profit and university art galleries.

Museums

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Name Neighborhood Type Notes
Abiel Smith School Beacon Hill African American Part of Museum of African American History, first public school for free blacks
African Meeting House Beacon Hill African American Part of Museum of African American History
Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company Museum Downtown Boston History Military museum, JFK and Medal of Honor special exhibits, military relics, paintings, photographs, and library, located on the 4th floor of Faneuil Hall
Boston African American National Historic Site Beacon Hill African American Interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, including the African Meeting House and the Abiel Smith School
Boston Athenæum Beacon Hill Multiple Library and museum of art
Boston Children's Museum South Boston Children's Located on Children's Wharf
Boston City Hall Galleries Financial District Art website, Mayor's Gallery exhibits work by Boston artists, Scollay Square Gallery showcases arts organizations and artists community groups that support Boston artists
Boston Fire Museum Financial District Fire
Boston National Historical Park Boston Historic sites Revolutionary War trail in Boston and Charlestown, includes Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Bunker Hill Monument, USS Constitution
Boston Public Library Back Bay Library Changing exhibits of art and history from its collections at the Central Library, also at branch locations
Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum South Boston History Reenactments, interactive exhibits, and two authentically restored ships
Boston University Art Galleries Fenway–Kenmore Art website, Stone, 808, Annex, and Sherman Galleries
BSA Space Financial District Architecture Changing exhibits of architecture and design by the Boston Society of Architects
Bunker Hill Monument Charlestown Military Monument and museum about the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill
Center for the History of Medicine Longwood Medical and Academic Area Medical Rotating exhibits about the history of medicine from the collections of the Countway Library of Medicine
Commonwealth Museum Dorchester History State history, operated by the Massachusetts Archives
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate Dorchester History Specialty museum and educational institution containing the only full-scale reproduction of the U.S. Senate Chamber.
Faneuil Hall Downtown Boston History Marketplace and meeting hall during the American Revolution
Fort Warren Georges Island Military Mid 19th-century fort and park
Gallery 360 at Northeastern University Fenway–Kenmore Art website, located in Ell Hall
Gallery 5 at Emmanuel College Longwood Medical and Academic Area Art website, exhibitions of work by professional artists, emerging artists, artist residents, outsider artists and Emmanuel College art students and alumni
Garner Center for Photographic Exhibitions Fenway–Kenmore Art website, photography exhibitions by the New England School of Photography
Gibson House Museum Back Bay Historic house 1850-1870s period townhouse
Harbor Gallery at University of Massachusetts Boston Dorchester Art website, student-run gallery in McCormack Hall
Huret and Spector Gallery at Emerson College Boston Theater District Art website, located in the Tufte Performance Production Center (10 Boylston Place)
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston South Boston Art Contemporary art website
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Fenway–Kenmore Art Includes European, Asian and American art, including paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts
James Blake House Dorchester Historic house Operated by the Dorchester Historical Society, 1661 house, oldest house in Boston
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum Dorchester Biographical Presidential library and museum of John F. Kennedy
Lemuel Clap House Dorchester Historic house Operated by the Dorchester Historical Society, mid 18th-century period house
Loring-Greenough House Jamaica Plain Historic house 18th-century period mansion
Mary Baker Eddy Library Fenway–Kenmore Multiple Includes the Mapparium, a three-story, stained-glass globe, the Hall of Ideas and changing exhibits about relating to the life of Mary Baker Eddy
Mary L. Fifield Art Gallery at Bunker Hill Community College Charlestown Art website
MassArt Art Museum at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design Longwood Medical and Academic Area Contemporary Art website
Massachusetts College of Art and Design Galleries Longwood Medical and Academic Area Art website, 9 galleries featuring mostly student work: Arnheim Gallery, Brant Gallery, Doran Gallery, Frances Euphemia Thompson Gallery, Godine Family Gallery, Student Life Gallery, Tower Gallery, and North Crackertorium Gallery
Massachusetts Historical Society Back Bay History Exhibits from its collections of American history, life and culture
Museum of African American History Beacon Hill African American Includes the African Meeting House and Abiel Smith School
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Fenway–Kenmore Art Contains over 450,000 works of art
Museum of Science, Boston Downtown Boston Science Includes over 500 interactive exhibits, 100 animals, planetarium and IMAX theater
Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists Roxbury Art Contemporary and historical expressive arts from the global Black world, located in Abbotsford house
Nichols House Museum Beacon Hill Historic house Turn-of-the-century townhouse with period rooms
Old North Church North End Historic site 18th-century church, location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent in 1775
Old South Meeting House Financial District History Operated by Revolutionary Spaces, Organizing point for the Boston Tea Party, includes museum
Old State House Museum Financial District History Operated by Revolutionary Spaces, 18th-century Colonial state house, served as the first state house for the newly formed Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Otis House Museum West End Historic house Owned by Historic New England, also known as Harrison Gray Otis House, post-Revolutionary house
Paul Revere House North End Historic house Late 17th-century period house, home of American Revolutionary patriot Paul Revere, also adjacent Pierce–Hichborn House
Photographic Resource Center Fenway–Kenmore Art website, photography and related media
Pierce House Dorchester Historic house Owned by Historic New England, 17th-century period house, open twice a year
Roxbury Heritage State Park Roxbury Historic house 1750 Dillaway–Thomas House restored to show how it changed over two centuries
Russell Museum of Medical History and Innovation West End Medical website explores history of medicine and health care at Massachusetts General Hospital
Shirley-Eustis House Roxbury Historic house Restored 18th-century mansion of Royal Governor William Shirley
The Sports Museum West End Sports Celebrates Boston sports, located in TD Garden
Suffolk University Gallery Downtown Boston Art website, exhibition space for the New England School of Art and Design in the former Paine Furniture Building
Trustman Art Gallery at Simmons University Longwood Medical and Academic Area Art website, professional and student work
USS Cassin Young Charlestown Maritime World War II destroyer museum ship
USS Constitution Charlestown Maritime "Old Ironsides", wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy, launched in 1797
USS Constitution Museum Charlestown Maritime Privately run museum is located at the former Charlestown Navy Yard near the US Navy's USS Constitution
Vilna Shul Beacon Hill Ethnic Boston's center for Jewish culture
Warren Anatomical Museum Longwood Medical and Academic Area Medical Housed in Harvard Medical School's Countway Library of Medicine
Waterworks Museum, Boston Allston–Brighton Technology website, late 19th-century former pumping station for the Chestnut Hill Reservoir
West End Museum West End Local History West End neighborhood history and culture
William Clapp House Dorchester Historic house 19th-century house, home of the Dorchester Historical Society
William Hickling Prescott House Beacon Hill Historic house Operated by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 19th-century home of author William Hickling Prescott

Defunct museums

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See also

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References

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