Open year-round · Indoors · Ages 0–10

Touch
everything.

Seven galleries. A two-story indoor playground. A coal mine you can walk into. Five dollars, and it doesn't matter what the weather's doing.

Children playing in the Owensboro Rotary PlayZeum
$5
EVERY PERSON
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kid mid-slide
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sits over photo edge
Columbo the mammoth coming down the slide
Start in the PlayZeum. Trust me, I've been here 11,000 years.
— COLUMBO
A coal mine you can walk intoPuppet theatreReal race carsA shadow roomMagnet bridgesFree parkingStroller friendly
A coal mine you can walk intoPuppet theatreReal race carsA shadow roomMagnet bridgesFree parkingStroller friendly
Where to next

Pick a door.

Encounter gallery

Exhibits

Seven permanent galleries, from a re-created coal mine to a two-story playground.

See all seven →
Visitors at the museum

Plan a visit

Tell us your kid's age and how long you've got. We'll build the route.

Build our plan →
Museum event

Events

Wonder Wednesday every week, Sensory Mornings, and Voices of Elmwood in September.

See the calendar →
A group at the museum

Birthdays

Three taps and your party request goes straight to the events team.

Start a request →
Follow the footprints

Meet Columbo.

He's the mammoth who walks you through the building. Step on a footprint.

Columbo the mammoth
Four facts. Pick one. ↓
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— COLUMBO
What's next

The museum is
getting bigger.

Founded in 1966 inside a 19th-century building downtown, OMSH is in the middle of its next chapter — a new gallery under construction, new programming on the calendar, and a lot more reason to come back than there was last year.

IN CONSTRUCTION
River Heritage History Gallery
An eighth permanent gallery on the Ohio River and the town it built.
GROWING
Weekly drop-in programming
Wonder Wednesday every week, Sensory Mornings monthly, and a teen club that meets after hours.
RETURNING
Voices of Elmwood™ 2026
Four evenings in September at Elmwood Cemetery. Members get early access to tickets.
Inside the Encounter gallery
Columbo the mammoth in a lab coat
1966
Founded — and still the only place in town with a coal mine on the second floor.
Coming up

This month.

See the full calendar
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