Located in a very distinctive old 1890s building that used to be the City Hall, this is 4 compact floors of exhibits with good signage and videos. It's a good museum for learning the history of Wichita, especially in regards to its role as a hub of early aviation (Cessna, Beechcraft) and auto manufacturing. Heck, they even managed to get a full-assembled old car into the gallery on the 4th floor. Definitely watch the video on this, it's fascinating. I spent about an hour and a half touring, and found this the most enjoyable part of my visit to Wichita. The only drawback are the hours--they are not open in the mornings on the weekends, and only 11-4 on weekdays (closed Mondays).

Excellent source of information about the city’s history. Very good information about the aviation industry. Lots to see here. I spent 2.5 hours but could have spent longer if I had the time. I will return. The building is beautiful.

Definitely worth the price of admission, $5, I think, but not sure as Rich paid for us when I was tracking down my non-sunglasses in Sandy’s Subaru, parked around the corner. We were there on a late Tuesday morning in May, maybe the only ones in attendance. Each floor (4) has a different theme. As the exhibits are created for the history buff and museum aficionado, I would discourage bringing juveniles along as you probably have to be especially interested in Wichita and it’s local history to get the most out of it, only due to the nature of the historical, educational and intellectual subjects, not in the very well done displays and presentations. We watched the short-ish “Air Capital of the World” film which was well done, and informative. Perhaps it is because we went to the Cosmosphere museum the day before, or because we went to The Keeper of the Plains that morning, but we hit ‘museum fatigue’ a little earlier than normal. Really good museum, friendly staff, and you should enjoy it if you like history.

Pros: beautiful old building, although the interior has been renovated over the years. Well done exhibits about the history of the European settlers who came to this area. I especially liked the info about the history of the aviation industry. Wonderful staff and volunteers. The museum conveys a strong sense of civic pride. The con (and it’s a big one): humans have inhabited this area for thousands of years, but the museum barely acknowledges this. There is some information about the Wichita tribe, but it seems to be included mainly to explain how the land was “acquired” and where the name Wichita came from. The information that is presented shows the actions of the US Government and the early European settlers in an overly favorable light. See the attached photo for the particular statement that was the last straw that caused me to leave this review. There is a small exhibit about a sit-in that led to the desegregation of a drug store lunch counter, but little about the history and challenges faxed by non-European residents of Wichita. The folks at this museum are lovely and it is definitely worth seeing. I hope that some day the powers-that-be will permit a more complete examination of Wichita’s history.

Wichita native but first time going to this museum. Didn’t really know what to expect but it completely knocked my socks off. My friend and I went towards the end of the day and only gave ourselves an hour. It was possible to make it through in that amount of time but we had to keep a brisk pace the entire time. There are a few rooms set up as recreations of what a house, drug store, and office would look like circa ~1890s. It completely felt like time traveling. Would recommend giving yourself 2-3 hours for a leisurely viewing of the museum and to read all the informational signs they had posted. Probably more for older children and up due to a ton of informational signs that I would imagine young kids wouldn’t care for. Can’t believe this gem was under my nose all these years! Recommending to other local friends and family!