25. March 2025
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U.S. Department of the Interior Museum

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

U.S. Department of the Interior Museum

free entry
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum
4.5

Rating

 4.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice little museum
  • Amazing murals
  • Free entry

My April 2024 Pittsburgh Penguins trip brought me back to Washington D.C.. I decided to add visit some places, which might not be on the top of your bucket list. A very interesting place is the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum. I was quite amazed by good reviews I saw on other travel websites and thus put it on my list of visits. Here is my review of the experience.

 

 

U.S. Department of the Interior Museum – Location & Admission

The museum is located withing the U.S. Department of the Interior. The exectuive department is located right Southwest of the White House and Noirth of the National Mall. The closest Washington Metro station is Farragut West, served by the Blue, Orange and Silver Line. You may also use Farragut North (Red Line). However, the location is in walking distance to many key attractions of the US-American capital. You access the Museum through the Southern entrance at C Street.

The U.S. Department of the Interior Museum is opening in line with key office hours. This means it is open from 9:00 to 17:00 from Mondays to Friday. It is closed on weekends and federal holidays There may be closures due to governmental obligations. Admission is free. As you enter a federal building, there are airport-style security measures. You have to bring your photo ID or passport with you.

 

U.S. Department of the Interior Museum – The Exhibition

Especially for non-US-American readers, it is worth mentioning that the Department of the Interior is not dealing with executive functions like the police. They rather deal with preserving the nature, caring about native Americans and Hawaiians, but also with wildfires, invasive species, emergency management and similar topics. The museum is illustrating that. The main exhibition is illustrating these functions in its first of two rooms. The museum owns a total of over 8,600 exhibits. Of course, only a small part of them are in fact in display. Nonetheless, it is a nice visit and you learn about the different functions.

The second room majorly featured artworks / paintings during my visit. They illustrated the early settlements in North America after its discovery. This room might not feel that informative at first sight, but it is very impressing on the other hand. Additionally, it nicely reflects the wide collection owned by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

 

U.S. Department of the Interior Museum – Murals

A wonderful perk as a museum visitor is that you can walk through the public part of the building on your own. This is not about checking (if you are a US taxpayer) checking whether your money is well-invested. First of all, the building is an architectural icon and is simply lovely to explore. However, the key reason are all the murals in the two floors of the public aisle. They reflect US-American life and history, based of the function of this governmental department. I included some impressions in the pictures below – I feel it is simply enjoyable.

 

U.S. Department of the Interior Museum – Services

The staff, also at the security, was very friendly and helpful. The screening process was welcoming. Within the +building, there is also a shop selling Indian craft.

 

U.S. Department of the Interior Museum – My View

I had an amazing time at the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum. The exhibition itself is a bit of small, but very educative (at least from a foreigner’s perspective). Similar to my visit to the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, I also feel very thankful that you can visit places like that at all. The murals and the architecture are the outstanding icing on the cake of your visit. And overall, you spend some great 60 minutes or more in this building.

 

Flyctory.com in Washington D.C.

Here are all postings about Washington D.C. and surroundings:

 

Superb 2020 Travel Reviews

Here are all my travel reviews released in 2020, which got a rating better than 4.5:

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