Memphis museums guide: 18 can't-miss spots offering everything from music to fire trucks
Baseball. Picnics. Playgrounds.
School is out, the kids are carefree, and the outdoors beckons.
On the other hand, it's hot out there. Really hot. According to the National Weather Service, the "normal" high temperature in Memphis doesn't drop below 90 on any day in July or August.
The indoors beckons. It's air-conditioned. It also can be filled with art or music or fire trucks or bones.
Those things can be found in Memphis museums.
The city has many museums, which cater to visitors of all ages. Some are well known, a few are relatively obscure, but all are eager for attention.
Here, in alphabetical order, is a look at some of them — ideal places to visit during the waning weeks of summer.
Art Museum of the University of Memphis
Construction and renovation that will expand the museum's African art exhibit space will keep some galleries closed through summer, but in the meantime the main gallery and the Egyptian Gallery — devoted to ancient art and archeology from the region that was home to Memphis' namesake city — remain open. Visit memphis.edu/amum.
Belz Museum of Asian & Judaic Art
Tucked on a lower floor of Peabody Place at 119 S. Main, this hidden gem puts on display hundreds of historic and contemporary works from China, Russia and elsewhere, collected over the decades by Jack Belz, who helped lead the revitalization of Downtown and the redevelopment of The Peabody, and his late wife, Marilyn. Open Wednesday through Sunday. Visit belzmuseum.org.
Blues Hall of Fame Museum
Opened in 2015 by the Blues Foundation (the organization that also hosts the annual Blues Music Awards), this tribute to blues culture at 421 S. Main is recognizable from the statue of Little Milton, posted in a seated position, cradling his guitar, on a bench outside the front door. Inside, artifacts that once belonged to such music masters as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pee Wee Crayton and Donald "Duck" Dunn are on display. Open Tuesday through Saturday. Visit blues.org/hall-of-fame-museum.
Children's Museum of Memphis
Unlike most of the institutions listed here, this museum at 2525 Central encourages visitors to touch, grab and climb on its attractions: the idea is what museum officials call "educational play." Spaces include a "dino dig," for pint-sized would-be paleontologists; "Smiles, Inc.," where kids get to wield giant-sized toothbrushes against monster molars; and the historic 1909 Grand Carousel. Closed Mondays. Visit cmom.com.
Chucalissa
Operated by the University of Memphis, the "C.H. Nash Museum at the Prehistoric Chucalissa Archeological Site," to give the place its due, takes visitors to a time "before Europeans set foot upon Mississippi Valley soil," when "American Indians flourished along the shores of the Mighty Mississippi River." Located at 1987 Indian Village Drive near T.O. Fuller State Park, the site includes a reconstructed village and hands-on archeological activities. Open Tuesday through Saturday. Visit memphis.edu/chucalissa.
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Cotton Museum
Devoted to what it labels "the crop that changed the world," the Cotton Museum inside the Cotton Exchange Building at 65 Union examines "the epic story of the famed cash crop and its profound influence on the city of Memphis," good and bad. (Cotton was crucial to the expansion of Memphis, but slavery was crucial to the exploitation of that cotton.) Open daily. Visit memphiscottonmuseum.org.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens
A showcase for "Beauty Inside and Out" (to quote the museum website), the Dixon is as renowned for its flower gardens as for the Impressionist art that is the foundation of its collection. Now is an ideal time to visit: Set to run through Sept. 29, the museum's "Southern/Modern: 1913-1955" exhibit sounds like a must: a show featuring more than 100 paintings, drawings and prints created by the often overlooked vanguard artists of the South. The museum is open every day except Sunday. Visit dixon.org.
Edge Motor Museum
If you feel a need for speed (or, at least, a need to observe objects that can travel at high rates of speed), Memphis' only car museum — located at 645 Marshall, down the street from Sun Studio (which has museum-style exhibits of its own) — may be the place for you. The current exhibit "follows the rise, plateau, and fall of the American sports car," and invites visitors to "see more than a dozen iconic sports cars from post-war United States to the 1970s." Open daily. Visit edgemotormuseum.com.
Elvis Presley's Memphis
Located across the street from the Graceland mansion on Elvis Presley Boulevard, this complex of sometimes interactive exhibits offers irresistible closeup views of the King's most fabulous outfits, automobiles and other artifacts, plus items that belonged to those Elvis influenced, including John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen. Open daily. Visit graceland.com/epm.
Fire Museum of Memphis
A favorite of kids (who get to play on a fire truck and don child-sized firefighter apparel), this interactive attraction (open Monday through Saturday) is ablaze (so to speak) with dramatic exhibits about the history and technology of firefighting; as kids play, they also learn important fire safety tips. The museum is located in the old Fire House No. 1 at 118 Adams Ave., built in 1910. Visit firemuseum.com.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
As anyone who has tried to drive along Front Street knows, construction of the new Downtown riverfront home of the museum that soon will be known, simply, as the Memphis Art Museum is underway. In the meantime, the Brooks continues to operate Wednesday through Sunday in its original Overton Park location. An exhibit of gowns designed by Christian Siriano and worn by the likes of Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama and Lady Gaga will be up through Aug. 4. Visit brooksmuseum.org.
Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum
Tourists who make time for Stax, Sun and Graceland shouldn't overlook this relatively compact wonder, located just in front of FedExForum. Where else can one find Ike Turner's first piano, a Sam the Sham turban, and — OK, boomer! — the neon sign from Elvis' favorite record shop, the old Poplar Tunes store at Poplar and Danny Thomas? Open daily. Visit memphisrocknsoul.org.
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Metal Museum
Formerly known as the National Ornamental Metal Museum, the museum is scheduled to relocate to the former Memphis College of Art in Overton Park, but for the next year or so will continue to operate out of its historic home at 374 Metal Museum Drive, on the banks of the Mississippi River. The museum itself contains many displays of beautiful and intricate metal artwork (the current exhibit is "Bracelets, Bangles & Cuffs: 1948-2024"), while the grounds house a blacksmith's forge and workshop, plus numerous metal sculptures. Closed Sunday and Monday. Visit metalmuseum.org.
Morton Museum of Collierville History
Located within a church built in the late 19th century, this museum at 196 N. Main in Collierville "collects, preserves, and interprets Collierville's dynamic history to make the past tangible, relevant, and meaningful for today's diverse community and for generations to come," according to its mission statement. Skeptical? Visit it and find out! Visit colliervilletn.gov/government/morton-museum.
Museum of Science and History
Incorporating Piggly Wiggly founder Clarence Saunders' famed mansion, "The Pink Palace," this longtime Memphis attraction continues to expand its exhibit space and its mission. Its AutoZone Sharpe Planetarium hosts laser rock shows and stargazing extravaganzas, its Giant Screen Theater shows IMAX-style nature films and Hollywood blockbusters, and its galleries feature pieces of dinosaurs and of Memphis history; its affiliated attractions include the Lichterman Nature Center in East Memphis and the Victorian-era Mallory-Neely House near Downtown. Closed Mondays. Visit moshmemphis.com.
National Civil Rights Museum
Arguably the city's most significant attraction, the museum at 450 Mulberry — built around what has been called the "hallowed ground" of the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. was murdered in 1968 — offers a deep dive into civil rights history, for an experience that is as essential as it is emotionally devastating. Closed Tuesdays. Visit civilrightsmuseum.org.
Overton Park Shell Connie Abston Archive & History Exhibition
This backstage tour and exhibit space gives visitors a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the popular Overton Park amphitheater, where (in the words of the Shell website) "Elvis Presley forever changed the world of live rock and roll, where The Allman Brothers Band relaxed with Sweet Connie & Friends, and where Furry Lewis egged on newcomers ZZ Top to rock The Shell all night long." Tours are at noon, 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. daily; other times are available by appointment. Visit overtonparkshell.org.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Tina Turner's dress, Rufus Thomas' boots, Isaac Hayes' Oscar — it's all here, and much, much more, at 926 E. McLemore, in one of the country's premiere music museums, which celebrates the talent, creativity and ingenuity — genius, even — of the performers and others who created the art that continues to wow the world. Closed Mondays. Visit staxmuseum.org.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What museums are in Memphis, TN? 18 spots to check out
