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Belleville, IL

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St Clair County Historical Society

4.0 (2 reviews)
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City Museum - Underwater-esque space

City Museum

4.5(1.8k reviews)
14.7 mi•Downtown West, Downtown

Saw this place on tiktok a few years ago and just knew I had to stop!! I'm so glad we did!! There…read morewas honestly so much to see that we'll probably be back someday! This place was amazing plan on being here for at least four hours. There are so many areas to climb and fit your body through. There were slides, caves and so many areas that if you hadn't been paying attention, you would have missed! We brought the kids here to have a fun time but honestly us adults really enjoyed this as well! There is a place to grab a snack here as well as gift shop. There are multiple floors and rooms and just when you think you've seen all of it another floor or room will pop up. We thought we had seen everything and then realized we missed two whole floors! This is absolutely worth going to!!

This place is really overwhelming. It was SO CROWDED. You know you are old when you start…read morewondering about max capacity and fire codes while in a place. There is constant noise. Kids yelling, crying, people talking, metal banging. Got here close to open. Parked at a lot nearby (thought it was the one for City museum. It was not and cost me $30 so BEWARE). Walked to the museum (about half a block) and the line was through the parking lot. I had not purchased tickets online because they charged a $8 convenience fee. Paid $68 ($62+$6 tax) ($23 per ticket for admission and $8 per person rooftop add on) for one adult and one kid ticket (there is no difference in price) with the roof top add on. They give you a wristband to wear which is nice that you can leave and come back. We left to go grab lunch nearby and were able to exit and re-enter easily. Got inside and had to use the restroom. Restrooms are old, run down, some stalls were out of service, paper towels were out, toilet paper out. I saw the restroom being serviced several times but it always seemed to be out of something. My kid had fun but there were areas they were not allowed to access due to not having a flashlight. Kidlet wanted me to buy one but we had no room to pack it. They could benefit from having a flashlight rental program for people traveling. Lots of kids wearing knee pads but my child did not particularly care they did not have them, they just wanted a light. Line to get on elevator to go to roof was long and hot. Roof was hot and there is not a lot of shade. It was cool views and photo ops if you are into that. I wanted to ride the ferris wheel but it was too hot to be out in the sun. Took the stairs back down. I was surprised I kept seeing it was in a 10 story building but there are only 3-4 floors you can access plus the roof. Due to the way it is laid out there are bottle necks that gather and make it hard to maneuver in some places. The restroom entrance is near the gift shop entrance (which is also where you exit) and people were just standing there so it was difficult to get through. Maneuvering the stairs was difficult as well as people did not keep one side open for going up and one for going down, taking up the whole stairway so you had to wait. Overall this was a way to kill some time before going to the airport. Kidlet had fun and they are the target demographic but I would not go back.

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City Museum - Fish bite!

Fish bite!

City Museum - Perched above the city

Perched above the city

City Museum - The tallest part

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The tallest part

Saint Louis Science Center - Blocks

Saint Louis Science Center

4.0(292 reviews)
17.8 mi•Kings Oak

One of the BEST parts of St. Louis is all the FREE attractions . We decided to visit the science…read morecenter and we had sooooo much fun . Couldn't believe there was no charge for admission . Parking is free if you're a member, if not you'll be charged unless you walk over , shuttle or park somewhere else nearby free. (They often will waive parking with the purchase of a movie ticket at that their theatre ) This science center has an OMNI IMAX movie theater inside on level 3 , cafes , gift shop, shows and too many hands on experiences to list with so many neat artifacts . The kid in me would come back repeatedly . Lol

This was a pretty good museum, my favorite part is that it's free entry! My toddler is very much in…read morehis dinosaur era, so he absolutely LIT UP at the T-Rex. We were worried he would be scared, but he was so happy lol. The rest of the museum was pretty cool, but it focuses more on older kids so the small ones didn't have much to interact with. The outdoor area about agriculture was nice (there are chickens!) and a giant tractor to play on. Another interesting part was past the bridge called the Vault. It was just collections over time, and all over the world. If you have time to spend all day, it would be cool, but we're going to wait a little bit until my toddler is older. Parking is $15, but not bad compared elsewhere.

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Saint Louis Science Center - Any Firefly fans??

Any Firefly fans??

Saint Louis Science Center - Collection from The Vault

Collection from The Vault

Saint Louis Science Center - GameXPloration

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GameXPloration

Field House Museum - Period appropriate Christmas tree in the historic house

Field House Museum

4.6(10 reviews)
13.8 mi•Downtown St. Louis, Downtown

This museum consists of the historic home of The Children's Poet Eugene Fields (really more his…read morefather's home, but they are both famous) and the extension, which includes gallery space and a research library. It is another excellent little museum in the area! I did not realize that I knew Field's poetry, but I recognized "The Duel" immediately. We were really here for the Weatherbird 125th exhibit and a talk given by the current cartoonist Mr. Dan Martin, but got there early enough to explore the other exhibits and take a guided tour of the house. The staff were very informative and great at answering our questions. I was also so impressed with the exhibit designs. I think this is WELL worth the 10 bucks entrance fee and parking downtown (they do have a small free lot, which is easy to drive right by). Im encouraging all my friends to catch the Weatherbird exhibit before it leaves at the end of March, and I'd be interested to see what they rotate in later.

The Field House in downtown St. Louis is one of the area's oldest surviving structures. Built in…read more1845 as a part of Walsh's Row, this is the only survivor out of a dozen houses. Roswell Field moved his family into the house in 1850, and his son Eugene was born the same year. Roswell Field was the lawyer who defended Dred Scott in the famous court case, and was one of the key proponents in getting the case moved to the Supreme Court. Eugene lived in the house as a boy, but was later sent to live with relatives back East. He went on to be a famed newspaper columnist and poet in his adult life, but in his later years and after his death at age 45, his children's poems became what he was remembered for. The St. Louis board of education had leased their property to build Walsh's Row back in 1845, and this became important in 1936, when the row was slated for demolition. The board decided to dedicate the Field House as a place where children could go to learn about local history, and it has remained open as a museum ever since. Much of Eugene's furniture was placed in the house after being moved from Chicago. In the 1960s, part of the house was used to display vintage toys, as Eugene was an avid toy collector in his adult life. More recently, the museum has opened an exhibit space next to the house, where many of the toys are kept, and has focused on restoring the house to look more as it would have in the mid 19th century. The tour is not very long, as this is an upper middle class house that isn't incredibly large, but there's lots of history here, and it gives a look into what life was like living in downtown St. Louis in the 1850s.

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Field House Museum - Happy B-Day, Weatherbird!

Happy B-Day, Weatherbird!

Field House Museum - "The Duel" in the research library

"The Duel" in the research library

Field House Museum - The Field House with the new expansion

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The Field House with the new expansion

Historic Daniel Boone Home - Family dining area in lower level of main house.

Historic Daniel Boone Home

4.4(18 reviews)
48.3 mi

This review is for the December nighttime candlelight walk, though my site notes cover any visit…read more Since the county parks department took over this historic village a few years ago, the program has been completely revamped. For the better, I've been told. For the candlelight program Daniel Boone and his wife, as characters, greet visitors and share a bit about their frontier life. Other period characters explain holiday customs, tell stories, or recite whole passages from memory of Dickens' A Christmas Carol or Moore's Nicholas (as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas was originally called). At points in the village visitors become part of the program, such as mummers (traveling beggars) at one house. The entire circular stroll starts and ends in the same spot. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to complete, though the time flies by. Visitor notes: This is not an ADA experience. It would be challenging even with a stroller. The interest level and time commitment might be more appropriate for older teens, young and middle age adults, and healthy seniors. Very much of the tour is outside as you move from building to building. Walkways are uneven rock paths, soft mulch, or wood stairs of varying heights. For the nighttime experience paths and buildings are lit by candlelight and can be somewhat dark. Floors are rock, wood, or dirt. The route would be difficult to travel other than by foot. Also, though cider and cookies are complementary, they're at the entrance/exit. You may want to pack snacks for yourself or little ones because no food is available on the route or allowed in buildings. However, go--if you can--and enjoy a truly unique holiday event.

This is a great historical site. The Daniel Boone Home is authentic and original to the site. The…read morehistoric village is not original to the site but includes a number of historic buildings that have been preserved and relocated here. We took the guided tour ($8 for seniors) and had a phenomenal tour guide. He was a recent graduate with a degree in history. His tour was very informative and he tried hard to dispel some of the myths surrounding Daniel Boone and some misconceptions based on the Festus Parker protrayal of Daniel Boon on TV. He was great. After the guided tour of the house, we did a self guided tour of the historic village. This was well worth the visit.

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Historic Daniel Boone Home
Historic Daniel Boone Home
Historic Daniel Boone Home

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Wax Museum of St Louis

Wax Museum of St Louis

2.6(49 reviews)
13.9 mi•Downtown St. Louis, Downtown

I like to say that Laclede's is so grungy it's good. Really…read more My spouse and I stopped in for a visit during our anniversary weekend. I hadn't been here since 1993, and was too young then to see the Chamber of Horrors. I really wanted to return for this reason. We entered the museum and were greeted by a very friendly staff person working at the counter. She gave us the run down of what was on each floor, etc. Only $10 per person (I think it was) to go through the museum. Upon entering the storefront the wax figures look pretty accurate (these are also the best ones) - E.T., Shrek, Captain Jack Sparrow, The Hulk. Make your way up to the second floor and things get a little... interesting. Laclede's opened in 1983, so it's very possible a lot of these figures were installed then, and being wax in a poorly ventilated building, have aged accordingly. Johnny Cash, John Denver, Michael Jackson, the Royal Family, Patrick Swayze, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, the science from The Last Supper have all seen better days. Several of the wax figures were even falling apart. Kind of creepy to see wax figures without hands. By the time you get to the Marvel characters like Iron Man and Captain American things look a little less haggard. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones still looked pretty good, too. Poorly, poorly lit areas. Some of the lighting in the display cases wasn't working at all, so you didn't know what you were supposed to be looking at. Name plates are gone, so that was a fun game my husband and I got play. Audio/visual that accompanied some of the scenes was very old and/or inoperable, too. We got to the Chamber of Horrors (via a staircase to the basement) and it was was pretty darn spooky. Really loud, lots of flashing lights, and animatronics. Warning signs are posted, so heed the warning! I'm not overly sensitive to these things but I did want to get out of there and not linger. It was generally just kind of gross. This is not a place to visit if you can't do stairs, have poor eyesight, are afraid of the dark, narrow or cramped spaces, don't like that grungy feeling, etc. It's a maze. Not ADA accessible and as far as a I know no elevator. I think we spent about an hour here. The museum is located in the Historic District near the Old Spaghetti Factory Restaurant. We parked in a public lot that was monitored by an attendant. Only close to a casino - Horseshoe I think it was. The employee working told us to 'be safe' when we left, which we appreciated and questioned. Big ice cream case if you need something sweet after your tour. $10 is not at all too much for this unforgettable experience. Without hesitation, I recommend.

I mean...if you wanna get thoroughly creeped out just because the wax figures are terribly made,…read morehalf broken, and covered in cob webs and dust-- then sure. Go for it. You're either going to hate it because it's kitschy and terrible and campy or love it because it is those things and only $10. There are 3 floors, there's some superheroes, political and religious figures, and celebrities. The bottom floor where it used to be "creepy monsters and horror" is no longer available. This establishment is in very poor repair. It was hot and musty. The floors are creaky, weak spots, some spots make the glass flex and creak. There weren't lights even on in a lot of the display cases and no lights basically anywhere in the halls. We had to use the flashlights on our phones just to see how to get around and to see some of the wax figures behind the glass. Only a few spots had music/audio/visual stuff, most figures were not labeled and without the audio/visual portion, if you didn't know who it was, you're outta luck. Some of the spots where there was music, the speakers were crackling and popping so bad you couldn't tell what it was playing. If you want to feel like you're about to be the subject of the next worst B horror movie, this is your place. There were a bunch of figures that were broken and propped up on the walls or glass. I mean overall, I spent $15 on two people to be legitimately creeped tf out and I've spent more on haunted houses and didn't really get creeped out, so there's that. But if you're actually looking for a real wax museum, don't. Like- there's no way someone's not been slaughtered in that building at some point LOL.

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Wax Museum of St Louis
Wax Museum of St Louis
Wax Museum of St Louis

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St Clair County Historical Society - museums - Updated October 2026

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