St. Augustine is home to many great museums and attractions. Since it is a historic city, St. Augustine has many history museums but also a number of art, science and sports museums as well.
If you are interested in visiting these museums and would like to save money on tickets, check out this article on St. Augustine combo tickets.
The following is a list of St. Augustine Museums:
ACCORD Civil Rights Museum
Address: 79 Bridge Street, St. Augustine, FL
Website: accordfreedomtrail.org/ACCORDCivilRightsMuseum.html
The ACCORD Civil Rights Museum is a museum dedicated to the history of the local Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. The museum features articles, stories and artifacts about the local Civil Rights movement in the 1960s as well as daily film viewings of civil rights documentaries and vintage clips.
The museum is housed in the Rudcarlee Building which is a historic dentist office once owned by Doctor Rudolph N. Gordon who was one of the first black dentist and maxillofacial surgeons in the State of Florida.
The building later became the dental office of Doctor Robert B. Hayling, a local Civil Rights leader who was an adviser of the St. Augustine NAACP Youth Council and head of the St. Augustine chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Council.
The museum opened in 2014 on the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The museum is open by appointment only so please call or text the museum’s phone number to schedule an appointment.
Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine:
Address: 4730 Dixie Highway, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.ccmstaug.com
The Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine is a 30,000 square foot special events space, museum and classic car storage facility in St. Augustine. The museum features a collection of over 90 classic cars dating from the 1800s to modern day sports cars.
The oldest car on display is from 1895 and the newest is a 2020 C8 Chevy Corvette.
The museum was created to preserve and promote classic cars. The museum was established in June of 2020 and is a 501c3 charity organization that gives back to the community through multiple giving programs.
In addition to the museum, the facility also has an event hall for rent and a storage facility for car collectors who need a place to store their classic cars.
The museum is open Tuesday – Saturday from 10am to 6pm.
If you are interested in visiting more car museums, check out this article on car museums in Florida.
Colonial Quarter Museum:
Address: 43 St. George Street, St. Augustine
Website: colonialquarter.com
The Colonial Quarter Museum is a living history museum in the middle of St. Augustine. The museum features historic colonial buildings, history tours, a replica of a 35-foot Spanish watchtower as well as live musket and blacksmith demonstrations.
The museum consists of original historic buildings as well as reconstructed buildings along historic St. George Street. It also features restaurants and live music venues.
The museum is divided into four sections: the 16th century Spanish First City, the 17th century Spanish Fortified Town, the 18th century Spanish Garrison Town and the 18th century British colony.
Each section celebrates the different periods of St. Augustine’s history when the city was occupied by the Spanish and then the British.
The museum was first opened in 1963 by the University of Florida as a living history museum depicting life in St. Augustine in 1740 and has since expanded to include over four centuries of St. Augustine history.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
Father O’Rielly House Museum:
Address: 32 Aviles St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: fatheroreilly.house
The Father O’Rielly House Museum is a historic house museum where Spanish priest Father Miguel O’Rielley lived and taught students in the 1780s, including notable Catholic prelate Father Felix Varela who is currently being considered for sainthood.
The museum has three main themes: the story of the house itself, the history of the Catholic tradition in St. Augustine and the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph, a Roman Catholic congregation founded in France, who own and operate the museum.
Built in 1691, the house is a First Spanish Period (1565-1763) house made out made out of coquina and tabby.
In 1866, the Sisters of St. Joseph relocated from France to St. Augustine where they settled in the O’Rielly House and turned it into a small school room to educate freed slaves.
In 1974, the house was added to the National Register of Historical Places.
The Sisters of St. Joseph opened the house to the public as a historic house museum on June 25, 2003.
The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10am to 3pm and is free to the public. Donations are gratefully accepted.
Government House Museum:
Address: 48 King Street, St. Augustine
Website: staugustine.ufl.edu/govHouse.html
The Government House Museum is a historic house museum where the colonial governors of Florida resided during the 16th and 17th centuries. It features exhibits and a gallery that explain the history of the building.
The Government House is located on the site of the first government house which was first built in 1598 and later demolished. The current Government House is a First Spanish Period (1565-1763) building constructed between 1706 and 1713 out of coquina.
In 1821, the house became a court house but quickly became rundown and was renovated by notable architect Robert Mills in 1833.
In 1937, the Government House was remodeled as a U.S. post office. The post office relocated to a new building in 1965 and ownership of the Government House was transferred to the State of Florida in 1966 for use as a public monument.
The Government House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm and is free to the public.
Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center
Address: 102 M L King Ave, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.lincolnvillemuseum.org
The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center is an African-American history museum.
Located in the historic Excelsior School Building, which served as the first public black high school in Saint Johns County in 1925, the museum features exhibits highlighting over 450 years of black history in St. Augustine, particularly in the Lincolnville Historic District which was a town settled by freed slaves in 1866.
The 9,000 square foot exhibit space features artwork, memorabilia and photographs. The museum first opened in 2005 as the Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center and was renamed the Lincolnville Museum in 2012.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30am to 4:30pm.
Medieval Torture Museum:
Address: 100 St George St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: tixpls.com/medieval-torture-museum
The Medieval Torture Museum is an interactive historical museum about torture techniques used during the middle ages and the renaissance.
It features a 4,000 square foot exhibit space with the world’s most detailed collection of torture, confinement and execution devices.
The devices are used on wax mannequins to demonstrate how they were used and to evoke an emotional reaction from the visitors. The exhibits are categorized by time period to trace the evolution of torture over the centuries.
The museum opened in 2017 by the BenAur company.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 10pm.
Oldest Store Museum Experience
Address: 161 San Marco Ave, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.visitstaugustine.com/thing-to-do/oldest-store-museum
The Oldest Store Museum Experience is a living history museum about the former C.F. Hamblen Hardware store and is a replica of the original store.
The store originally opened in 1875 and it sold goods to Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railroad and Flagler’s hotels in St. Augustine. When Hamblen died in 1920 the store was acquired by George Meserve who continued to supply goods to the local hotels and railroad companies.
In 1960, the store’s warehouse was purchased by Fred Green who found an extensive collection of historic goods from the store. Green used the collection to open the Oldest Store Museum Experience a few years later on February 11, 1963 on Artillery Lane.
In 2002, Historic Tours of America purchased the collection and put it in storage while making plans to established a new museum for it.
In 2011, the museum was reopened on San Marco Avenue using new, updated exhibits designed by the Alcorn McBride entertainment company.
The museum features tour guides acting as store clerks and salesmen demonstrating the latest inventions of the time which includes tonics and elixirs, vintage clothing and farm equipment and household goods like historic washing machines, a grain thresher, a corn sheller as well as bicycles, tricycles and unicycles.
The museums also features animatronic figures explaining the history of the store and synchronized screens displaying photos of the store.
The museum is open daily from 9am to 5pm.
Oldest House Museum
Address: 271 Charlotte St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: staughs.com/oldest-house-museum-complex
The Oldest House Museum is a historic house museum located in the Gonzalez–Alvarez House. Built in 1723, the Gonzalez-Alvarez house is a Stone Vernacular-style house that was built during the First Spanish Period and is considered the oldest surviving house in St. Augustine.
The house is a two-story building made out of coquina on the first floor and wood on the second floor.
At the time it was built, it was only one story and was occupied by Tomás Gonzalez y Hernandez, an artilleryman at the nearby Castillo de San Marcos.
In 1774, the house was purchased by British Major Joseph Peavett who added the wood-frame second floor and ran the house as a tavern.
The house was enlarged again by its third owner Geronimo Alvarez, who added a two-story wing made out of coquina sometime after 1790 when he began residing there.
In 1918, the house was purchased by the St. Augustine Historical Society who turned it into their headquarters. In 1959, the society restored the house to its 19th century appearance.
In 1970, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a U.S. National Historical Landmark.
The Oldest House Museum is a part of the Oldest House Museum Complex and is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
Oldest Wooden School House
Address: 14 St George St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: oldestwoodenschoolhouse.com
The Oldest Wooden School House is a historic house museum located in a historic school house. Built sometime between 1702-1716, the school house was a originally a small wooden residence that later became a school house in the 19th century. It is considered to be the oldest wooden school house in the U.S.
The house is constructed out of red cedar and bald cypress wood and is held together by wooden pins and iron spikes.
The property was purchased by Juan Genopoly in 1780 and it remained in the Genopoly family for over a century.
In the 19th century, Genopoly began inviting local children to the home to learn English, writing, reading and math. Two of Genopoly’s children also grew up to become teachers at the school. The last class was held at the school in 1864.
In 1931, the school house opened to the public as the Oldest Wooden School House museum. The museum features the schoolhouse, a detached kitchen, an outhouse, a well, garden and a school bell.
In 1937, a heavy chain was placed around the perimeter of the school house to help anchor the historic building during hurricanes.
The museum is open Sunday through Thursday 10am to 5pm and Friday and Saturday 10am to 7pm.
Pena-Peck House
Address: 143 St George St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: penapeckhouse.com
The Pena Peck House is a historic house museum that was once the residence of Juan Estevan de Peña, the Spanish Royal Treasurer of St. Augustine. Built in 1750, the house is First Spanish Period house made of out of coquina.
From 1774-1785, the house was the home of British Governor Patrick Tonyn. It was later purchased by Dr. Seth Peck who added a second story to the house in 1837.
In 1931, Peck’s granddaughter Ann Gardner Burt left the house to the City of St. Augustine. Since then the house has been managed and exhibited by the Woman’s Exchange of St. Augustine.
The exhibits discuss the history of the house itself and the history of the Women’s Exchange of St. Augustine. It includes a display of artifacts collected at the property during a 1968 archeological dig as well as antiques and art work of the Peck Family, including oil paintings by renowned artists of Ponce de Leon Hotel’s Art Colony, Felix DeCrano and William Staples Drown, and an old coquina kitchen staged to represent an 1840′s kitchen.
Museum tours are available daily from 12pm to 4pm and are free to the public. Donations are accepted. Donations go to the Woman’s Exchange Scholarship Fund for women over 30 returning to school.
Potter’s Wax Museum
Address: 31 Orange St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.potterswaxmuseum.com
Potter’s Wax Museum is a wax museum that features over 160 wax sculptures of real and fictitious people. The museum features mostly wax sculptures of historical figures but also pop culture celebrities and American politicians.
The museum was established by George Potter in 1948 as Potter’s International Hall of Fame and was the first wax museum in the U.S. The Potter family continued to run the museum until 1986 when it was closed and the wax figures were sold off.
Former curator Dottie White quickly purchased the wax figures and reopened the museum, as Potter’s Wax Museum, on King Street in 1987 where it remained until it moved to its present location in 2014.
The museum is open daily from 9am to 5pm.
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
Address: 19 San Marco Ave, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.ripleys.com/staugustine
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not is a museum featuring kitschy oddities. The museum features 14 themed galleries which house an unusual collection of items that are the result of over 100 years of collecting by owner Robert Ripley.
The Ripley’s foundation has over 25,000 items in its collection which are housed in its various museums and attractions across the country.
The St. Augustine museum features items such as shrunken heads, wax figures, animal oddities like mummified and taxidermied animals, tribal artifacts, odd artwork, as well as replica space craft made out of matchsticks.
The museum opened to the public in St. Augustine in 1950 in a former hotel that was once a castle known as Castle Warden.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
Spanish Military Hospital Museum
Address: 3 Aviles St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: smhmuseum.com
The Spanish Military Hospital Museum is a history museum about the historic military hospital that existed on Aviles Street during the 18th century. The museum features exhibits on historical medical practices of the Second Spanish Period (1784 – 1821.)
It is not known when the Spanish Military Hospital was built but a Scottish carpenter named William Watson purchased the hospital during the British occupation of St. Augustine between 1763 – 1783 and remodeled it into a dwelling.
After the Spanish regained control of Florida in 1784, the building continued to serve as a military hospital, which consisted of three buildings by that time, Hospital West, Hospital East and the apothecary at the William Watson House.
In 1818, Hospital West burned down and the hospital eventually closed down all together in 1823. In 1895, Hospital East was destroyed in a fire and only the Watson building remained.
In 1965, the military hospital was reconstructed on its original foundation and it opened as a medical museum in 1968.
Due to the high cost of running the museum, the museum closed down in 1977 but was eventually reopened in 1990. It is now owned by the State of Florida and is managed by the University of Florida.
The museum is open daily from 9am to 5pm.
St. Augustine History Museum:
Address: 11 Estey St, St. Augustine, FL
The St. Augustine History Museum is a history museum dedicated to over 400 years of St. Augustine history.
The exhibits explore various aspects of St. Augustine history, such as American Civil War events in Florida, the Seminole Wars, the lives of the early Florida settlers and the life of Henry Flagler, who was the owner of the Florida East Coast Railway.
Some of the items on display include toys and dolls dating from 1870s to the 1920s, a replica of a Spanish galleon filled with weapons, pottery and treasure, a Timucuan Indian hut, and a traditional Florida Cracker trading post.
The museum is open daily from 8:30am to 4:30pm.
St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum
Address: 100 Red Cox Dr, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.staugustinelighthouse.org
The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum is a maritime museum housed in the Keeper’s House at the historic St. Augustine Lighthouse.
The museum features three floors of shipwreck artifacts, an exhibit on wooden boat building and the historic 165-foot-tall St. Augustine Lighthouse.
The St. Augustine Lighthouse was built between 1871 and 1874 and is the oldest surviving brick structure in St. Augustine. The brick Keeper’s House was constructed on the property in 1876.
In 1981, the lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The maritime museum first opened on the site in 1988 and it expanded in 1994.
The lighthouse and museum are open daily from 9am to 6pm.
St. Augustine Lightner Museum:
Address: 75 King Street, St. Augustine, FL
Website: lightnermuseum.org
The St. Augustine Lightner Museum is a museum of antiques and art from the 19th century and is located in the former Alcazar Hotel which was a historic hotel built in 1889.
The first floor of the museum features a Victorian Science and Industry Room that contains natural history items like shells, geological specimens and Native American artifacts, an Egyptian mummy, a model steam engine and a shrunken head.
The first floor also includes a music room with a collection of historic musical instruments including player pianos, reproducing piano and ochestrions.
The second floor features glass and artwork including Victorian glass and Tiffany lamps. The third floor features paintings, sculptures and historic furniture including a grande escritoire created for the King of Holland, Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother.
The museum was opened to the public in 1948 by Chicago publisher and collector Otto C. Lightner.
St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum:
Address: 12 S Castillo Dr, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.thepiratemuseum.com
The St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum is a pirate museum featuring a vast collection of historic pirate artifacts. The museum features over 48 exhibits that contain over 800 artifacts related to piracy.
Some of the artifacts include Blackbeard’s blunderbuss, gold from the warship Queen Anne’s Revenge, an authentic Jolly Roger flag, historic swords, daggers and cannons as well as the only known authentic pirate treasure chest in the world.
The museum opened in St. Augustine in 2010 after relocating from Key West and is owned by retired team president of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers Pat Croce, who also runs the Colonial Quarter Museum.
The items in the collection are from Croce’s personal collection which is said to be the largest and most authentic collection of pirate artifacts ever displayed under one roof.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 7pm.
St. Augustine Shipwreck Museum and Gallery:
Address: 46 Charlotte St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: staugustinemuseum.com
The St. Augustine Shipwreck Museum is a history museum dedicated to the maritime shipwreck history of Florida.
The museum contains exhibits and artifacts from some of the most famous shipwrecks on Florida’s coast and from around the world such as the R.M.S. Titanic, The Nuestra Señora de Atocha, The S.S. Central America and more.
The museum opened to the public in July of 2021 and is located in a historic 19th century building on Charlotte Street.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
St. Augustine Surf Culture and History Museum:
Address: 14 St. Francis Street, St. Augustine, FL
The St. Augustine Surf Culture and History Museum is an interactive history museum dedicated to the history of surfing in the U.S.
The exhibits feature over 50 oral histories, hundreds of historical images, film, music, artifacts, newspaper articles and historic surf boards.
The museum is housed in the Tovar House in the Oldest House Museum Complex.
The museum opened in the Spring of 2021 and is owned and operated by the St. Augustine Historical Society.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
Villa Zorayda Museum:
Address: 83 King St, St. Augustine, FL
Website: villazorayda.com
The Villa Zorayda Museum is a historic house museum that features an art and antique collection assembled by Franklin Smith and Abraham Mussallem.
The house is a Moorish Revival-style house that was built as a winter residence for Boston millionaire Franklin W. Smith in 1883.
In 1903, the building was leased out and remodeled into the Zorayda Club, which was a restaurant and club. After Smith died in 1913, the house and the art collection were sold to an antiques merchant from Lebanon named Abraham Mussallem.
In the 1920s, the Zorayda Club became a casino and speakeasy. By the late 20s, Mussallem decided to close the club and use the building as a residence.
In 1933, Mussallem realized the importance of the building and opened it as a museum the Villa Zorayda Museum.
The Villa Zorayda was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
In 2000, the museum closed and underwent an 8 year renovation and reopened in 2008 as the Villa Zorayda Museum.
The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm.
World Golf Hall of Fame:
Address: 1 World Golf Pl, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.worldgolfvillage.com/hall-of-fame
The World Golf Hall of Fame is a sports museum about golf. The museum features exhibits with artifacts, works of art, as well as audio, video and photos about the history of golf. The exhibits explore everything from the game’s history to its techniques, heritage, players, equipment and dress.
The museum opened to the public on May 19, 1998 and is owned and operated by the World Golf Foundation.
Ximennez-Fatio House Museum:
Address: 20 Aviles Street, St. Augustine, FL
Website: www.ximenezfatiohouse.org
The Ximennez-Fatio House Museum is a historic house museum. Built in 1798, the house is a Second Spanish Period (1783 – 1821) house constructed out of coquina by Spanish merchant Andres Ximenez.
In 1830, a woman named Margaret Cook purchased the Ximennez-Fatio house and ran it as a boarding house. In 1838, Cook died of an illness and the house was purchased by Sarah Petty Anderson, who continued to run it as a boarding house.
In 1855, Anderson sold the house to the building’s manager, Louisa Fatio. The boarding house soon became known locally as Miss Fatio’s and Fatio ran the boarding house until her death in 1857.
In 1939, the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of Florida purchased the house and opened it to the public as a historic house museum on May 6, 1940.
In 1973, the Ximennex-Fatio House was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2012, the house was designated a Florida Heritage Landmark.
The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm.
If you are looking for more museums to visit in Florida, check out this article on the 9 best museums in Florida.
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