About the Wyoming State Museum
The Wyoming State Museum was founded in 1895 by the Third State Legislature, five years after Wyoming became a state, and it remains the official state repository for material concerning Wyoming history and cultural heritage. It is operated by Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Resources, the agency that also runs the state's historic sites and parks, and it occupies the Barrett Building at 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne.
The permanent galleries take the long view of the state, beginning with its fossils and its plants and animals and moving through Wyoming settlement, the culture and history of the Native peoples of the region, the coal industry, and the story of the National Park Service in Wyoming, home to the country's first national park. Temporary exhibitions rotate through the year, the museum publishes online exhibits for people who cannot get to Cheyenne, and it circulates traveling exhibits to libraries, schools and cultural institutions in Wyoming and surrounding states. Family programs are scheduled through the year; one listed for October 3, 2026, "Creepy Crawly Critters," is typical of the sessions aimed at children.
The museum has no admission charge. In its own words, "the Wyoming State Museum and all of its programs are free," which makes it one of the easiest stops in the state for a traveler with an hour to spare.
Collections and Research Services
As a state repository, the museum collects objects rather than documents, so it is not the place for obituaries or land records; those are held by the state archives and county offices. What the museum offers researchers is an Online Collections Database at wyomuseum.catalogaccess.com, where artifacts can be searched by keyword, and a formal process for artifact research requests handled by the collections staff. The same office handles artifact loan requests to other institutions, donation offers, and inquiries about appraisals and conservation. Researchers working on a Wyoming ranch, homestead or town building will get the most from the collection by pairing it with photographs and directories; our guides to finding old photos of a house and neighborhood and free family history research show where to find those.
Planning Your Visit
The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 4:30 pm and closed on Sundays and state holidays. Admission is free. The museum maintains an accessibility page and states that it is "committed to ensuring equal access for all its visitors"; parking details were not listed on the pages we reviewed, so check wyomuseum.wyo.gov or call (307) 777-7022 before you go. A museum store operates online at wyomuseumstore.com. For a second Wyoming museum on this directory, see the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, near Yellowstone.
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