Plan A Visit
General Information: Open: Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Adults $9.50, Seniors: $8.50, Children (ages 3 to 12): $5.00 and students with current ID $5. Museum members are always free. Museum can be reached by calling 239-321-7430 or www.cityftmyers.com/museum Permanent Collection: Housed in the former Atlantic Coastline Railroad depot, the museum is home to the history of Southwest Florida. Paleo man, Calusa Indians, Seminole Indians, Spanish explorers, and early settlers are just a few of the people you will meet as you view our exhibits. Visitors can peak inside a pioneer "Cracker" house, view a 1926 La France fire pumper, and step aboard the Esperanza - a 1929 private Pullman rail car.
Traveling Exhibits: From mid-winter through Spring each year, the museum hosts an exciting traveling exhibit highlighting the history and culture of another people, country, time or era. Previous exhibits have included The Roswell Exhibit, King Tut, Treasures of Eden, the Ted Williams Museum exhibit and Lucy: the Story of Human Origins.
New and Upcoming Exhibits: The museum’s most recent permanent exhibit titled “Land of Giants: Paleo Florida” depicts animals, such as Mammoths, Mastodons, Giant Ground Sloths and Saber Tooth Cat which roamed this area during the Pleistocene Epoch approximately 12,000 years ago. Group Tours: Adult Group Tours (10 or more) are $7.50 per person and Children group tours are $4.00 per child. Please call for reservations.
Special Programs: Historic Downtown Walking Tours are held on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM from January through April, and for groups of 10 or more by special arrangement during the year. Call for information, to make reservations (REQUIRED) and fees.
Escorted Bus Trips to other cultural and historic sites around the state are held monthly from December – April. A schedule will be made available in October for the upcoming year.In addition, classes, lectures, workshops, special events and other programs are held throughout the year. Call for information. The museum’s Educational Center room accommodates up to 55 people and is available for rent—just $50 for two hours. Groups, organizations and clubs are welcome to rent the enclosed room to suit their schedule.
Research: The museum's Archival Research Center is open by appointment. A museum educator/historian is available to assist you with research and copies of photos, maps, and other materials as available. Appointments are required. Please call the museum at 239-321-7430.
Location: Southwest Florida Museum of History is conveniently located on Jackson Street, one block south of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, in downtown Ft. Myers, 4 miles west of Interstate 75 at exit 138 (old exit 23) and within 1/2 mile of its sister museum, the Imaginarium Hands-On Museum.