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Milwaukee Public Museum

A Look at the History of Life on our Planet

Sep 17, 2007 Kelly Whitt

Milwaukee's Public Museum takes you back in time across all the continents to show you the creatures that inhabited an ancient Earth.

The Milwaukee Public Museum is located at 800 W. Wells Street in the city of Milwaukee. Find parking on James Lovell Dr. (7th Street). For recorded visitor's information, call 414-278-2702 or 888-700-9069.

The Daniel M. Soref Planetarium and Humphrey IMAX Dome Theater are located in the Milwaukee Public Museum but require separate tickets from museum admission.

The museum is separated into four floors plus a mezzanine level. Most of the favorite exhibits are located on the First Floor.

Ground Floor

The entrances, ticket booth where you will receive your wristbands, and Planetarium and IMAX theater are all located on the ground floor. Bathrooms, gift shops, and a cafe can also be found here. There are no exhibits on the ground floor.

First Floor

You must head upstairs to experience the first floor of the museum. After you ascend the grand staircase, take a moment to look at the exhibit called A Sense of Wonder right in front of you and above you. It is a sampling of the life forms found on Earth throughout its history. Then turn to your left and check out the exhibits that show scientists at work in the field. The rooms are cross-sections showing researches working in Milwaukee now and what Milwaukee looked like 1,000 years ago. You can also see exhibits showing Montana and Costa Rica and see even older creatures and habitats. At the end of this hall is the popular butterfly garden. Enter the warm humid room and hold still while a butterfly rests on you. Outside you'll find a lot more information about bugs, beetles, spiders, butterflies and moths.

Another popular area of the museum is on the first floor. The Third Planet: Earth showcases dinosaurs. See skeletons and a reconstructed T-Rex feeding on its prey along with a reconstructed stegosaurus. See what the continents used to look like before tectonics brought them to where they are today. Then journey through the rainforest for an abudance of animal models in a partially reconstructed habitat.

Cross the first floor to find the Streets of Old Milwaukee along with a European Village, where all the countries have one home represented in a small town. Peek in the windows to see what life was like at the turn of the 20th Century. In Old Milwaukee, a red-painted bedroom above the optometrist can be glimpsed from the balcony across the brick-paved street. No sign announces this one business in the old city. Rumor has it that it represents a bordello.

Second Floor

The second floor holds exhibits on Native Americans, Wisconsin Woodlands, and other regions of North America. Find the animals that roam through your backyard or identify the birdlife in the exhibits. See how the glaciers sculpted Wisconsin. A section also displays Egyptian artifacts and special and traveling exhibits.

Third Floor

On the third floor you'll find exhibits for Latin America, Africa, the Arctic, Asia, the Living Oceans, and Pacific Islands. Walk into an igloo, enter a house garden in southeast Asia, listen to the rhythmic music of the islands, witness a Latin American market, or explore a vast and beautiful display of seashells.

Mezzanine

A small area found by way of the stairs near the Easter Island head takes you up to the Mezzanine. This area showcases a huge display of pottery and other artifacts of Pre-Columbian America. Find bowls and figurines here that date back to 1000 B.C.E.

The copyright of the article Milwaukee Public Museum in NE U.S. Travel is owned by Kelly Whitt. Permission to republish Milwaukee Public Museum in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.