Washington State History Museum

The Washington State History Museum is the state historical society’s museum, on Pacific Avenue at the south end of downtown. It holds the collection and the exhibitions; the society behind it runs the research center and the state’s History Day program.

The building is worth ten seconds of attention before you go in. The museum’s own guide points out the brick façade and vaulted arches, designed to sit with neighbouring Union Station — the 1911 station that is now a federal courthouse — and the repurposed brick warehouses that became the University of Washington Tacoma campus. You can see the same rail-era downtown the exhibitions are about simply by walking around the block.

When it is free

Third Thursday is the cheap visit: the museum stays open until 8pm and admission is free from 3pm, supported by Columbia Bank. That is the evening to take a family that is not sure it wants a museum.

Every other day, adults pay $17 and students 6–18 pay $11, with ages 5 and under free. The Museums for All rate is $1 a person for cardholders on income assistance. Military admission is $14.

The December train festival

The museum’s annual Model Train Festival fills the galleries with miniature railroads over the winter holidays. Our festival listing has the dates we could confirm; check the museum’s own calendar before planning a trip around it.

If trains are the reason for the visit, call ahead or check the calendar rather than assuming the festival runs every day of the holiday break.

Practical notes

Closed Mondays. Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm.

The elevator is under repair. During business hours the museum asks visitors to reach the second floor through the Education Center doors on the amphitheater plaza, which is reached by ramp from the lower parking lot. If stairs or the temporary route matter to your group, that is worth knowing before you arrive.

Parking and transit. There is a lot beside the museum at Pacific Avenue level and more downhill behind it; if those are full, the museum suggests street parking or the lots on South 21st Street. A Link light rail station is in front of the building.

Where it fits in a day

The museum is in the Tacoma Museum District with Tacoma Art Museum and Museum of Glass, all within a few blocks. The Children’s Museum of Tacoma is a few blocks further along Pacific, the Chihuly Bridge of Glass is the walk down to the water, and the Tacoma Armory up on Yakima Avenue hosts markets and film screenings. Our rainy Sunday guide uses the downtown museums as wet-weather stops.