Alaska State Museum

The Alaska State Museum, at 395 Whittier St in Juneau, Alaska, is the official state history and art museum of Alaska and one of the oldest continuously operating public museums in the state, with origins dating to 1900 when it was established under the federal territorial government. Following a comprehensive renovation and expansion, the museum reopened in 2016 in its current purpose-built facility, which provides approximately 33,000 square feet of exhibition space and secure storage for more than 40,000 catalogued objects representing Alaska's natural, cultural, and political history. The ground-floor Natural History Gallery presents Alaska's geological formation, glaciation history, and ecosystem diversity through significant fossil specimens and environmental displays. Its most recognized exhibit is a full-scale reconstruction of a bald eagle nest, among the largest on record, collected in the early 20th century. The Alaska Native Collections Gallery occupies a central position in the permanent installation and presents objects from all major indigenous cultural traditions of Alaska, including Yup'ik, Cup'ik, Inupiaq, Alutiiq (Sugpiaq), Unangax (Aleut), Athabascan, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. The gallery's installation was developed in consultation with Alaska Native community representatives, who contributed interpretive perspectives alongside curatorial notes on many individual objects. The second floor covers Alaska's political and economic history from the Russian colonial period through statehood in 1959. Key holdings include documents from the 1867 Treaty of Cession that transferred Alaska from Russia to the United States, original territorial-era surveying instruments, cannery-period industrial artifacts, and materials from Alaska's constitutional convention of 1955 to 1956. A contemporary gallery on this level presents rotating exhibitions of Alaska art and photography. The museum also holds extensive historical photographic archives and records from the territorial administration period. The museum operates Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm; it is closed Sundays and Mondays. Admission is $12 for adults and $8 for children aged 7 to 17. Free admission for Alaska residents applies on the first Saturday of each month. The museum is located in downtown Juneau within walking distance of the Alaska State Capitol and the Marine Park cruise ship terminal. The gift shop offers quality Alaska Native arts, crafts, books, and prints and is open to non-ticket holders during regular operating hours.