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Explore
Discover 12,000 years of Maine’s natural wonders, cultural artifacts, and human stories.
Current Exhibits and Events
Lunder Education Center
The museum’s first dedicated educational space for families and school groups provides opportunities to see objects up close, interactive installations, digital displays, and special exhibits that feature the museum’s wide variety of biological, historical, and archaeological items.
Collections
Meet Maine at the Maine State Museum, where history and natural wonders come alive through carefully curated collections that span thousands of years. As the official guardian of Maine’s natural specimens and cultural artifacts, the museum serves as both protector and storyteller, transforming remarkable collections into captivating exhibits and educational programs.
Maine State Museum holds more than 800,000 objects in its collections.
Recent News, Videos, and Stories
What’s Been Going On at the Museum?
Gearing up for the first phase of our Grand Reopening on October 24, 2026! Are you missing the Maine State Museum? You are not alone. Many have expressed frustration that the museum has been closed for so long. The reasons for this long timeline? The renovation of the Cultural Building, the 55- year-old structure that […]
Parlor Set With Deep Maine Connections Returns Home
In early 2025, the Maine State Museum received a donation of a remarkable parlor set with an even more remarkable family story.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Maine State Museum Leads New Research on the Extinct Sea Mink In April 2025, Maine State Museum curator of natural science Dr. Paula Work and former Maine State Museum staff members Bruce Bourque and Robert Lewis published a groundbreaking study in the Journal of Quaternary Research that illuminates some mysteries of the now-extinct sea mink. […]
Maine’s Iconic “World Traveler” Sign
The “World Traveler Signpost” in the Maine State Museum’s collection celebrates Maine’s unusual assortment of international town names. Though the museum’s signpost dates from the 1990s, it was originally installed in Oxford County in the 1930s. James C. Chute (1884-1942) is believed to be the mastermind behind the “World Traveler Signpost.” James Chute was the […]