New Mexico History Museum

GREAT MUSEUM!! Start here in Santa Fe!! Plan 2 hours or more as there is so much to see and learn about New Mexico history dating back hundreds of years to the present day. We purchased the $30 per person New Mexico cultural pass good for one year that has one-time admission to this museum and several others in Santa Fe as well as throughout the state. We highly recommend the docent tours if you can attend one. It offers a 45 minute comprehensive tour of the main floor museum area and helps orient you and set the stage for the many other exhibits at the museum.

Probably the best museum we visited in Santa Fe. This museum is in a great location, and gets into just enough information through a variety of media to show anybody something about the area they didn't know. A great New Mexico Primer for a newbie. We enthusiastically recommend.

This place is awesome. As a local born and raised in Santa Fe, I love how this place represents and showcases New Mexico. The exhibits are always interesting, and rotate frequently enough to keep it fresh. As a long time Zozobra fanatic, I was more than excited to check out the exhibit. Worth the visit alone. The Oppenheimer exhibit was also very interesting. Love that there’s stuff for kids too.

This is a great museum to visit in downtown Santa Fe. Many exhibits, some rotating. If you're looking for something specific call ahead to be sure it's available. If you're short on time there's tours that last around an hour covering different topics and you'll be sure to learn something and you're able to ask questions. (I recommend Roy!) If you're into Billy The Kid there's a great exhibit about him and the Lincoln County War including his spurs! The museum really does cover all the perspectives. There's soooo much history you can't fit it all in these rooms. Ask for a book recommendation if you need more and don't forget to visit the gift shop.

Love museums. This one covers the history of the Trinity site in NM. It’s big enough to spend maybe 2 hours to cover all of it or more if you take your time. There’s definitely more to NM that I knew!

What a wonderful museum. We were intrigued by all the changes to the building over time, and learned so much about the history. Wall texts were excellent and the exhibits did a great job of showing both the far past and contemporary time.

Very interesting museum, exhibits are very informative. Definitely worth a visit.

This museum displays the known history of New Mexico through artifacts and photos. Bummer — the exhibit taking the story from 1912 to present was closed which was NOT explained to us when we bought our tickets. Shame. Cost you a star or two. Most interesting were the RR photos. No punches were pulled in the telling of the early years when European invaded with colonial atrocities.

We came to the New Mexico History museum on a Sunday afternoon. This museum should be among the first stops of anyone visiting New Mexico-it was well done and gave a detailed background of New Mexico from back before 1500's to the present day. The museum was comfortable, spacious and has a great gift shop! They are also conveniently located in the heart of downtown Santa Fe, and as long as you have your pass, you can easily go in and out.

Could spend all day in this museum. I learned so much and it was cool to google other areas of the country and world to compare what was happening in other parts of the country while New Mexico was being formed. So impressed with the amount of artifacts that were here. Interesting to see how history repeats itself. I tried not to take too many pictures as to not spoil it for others. For travelers, this area of Santa Fe is built very close together. I'd try to find street or garage parking on Sandoval Street. Admission is very fair at $12 each for non-resident adults.

September 2018. This was the place where I purchased two senior tickets for $50 apiece as membership to the North American Reciprocal Museum for one year. Covers some 800 museums in the United States, including a 8 in Santa Fe , and 14 in New York City. Museum covers the history of New Mexico, from Juan De Onate, first colonial governor of New Mexico, dressed in armor on a horse. Other highlights include exhibits on the Santa Fe Trail, a full size replica covered wagon, westward expansion, the Mexican American War, Fort Marcy, the Navajos, the pueblos, Territory of New Mexico, coming of the railroads, 1920s tourism, the Harvey Girls, Fred Harvey's restaurant chain, WW2 and the Manhattan project, and the making of the first atomic bomb. Used those senior tickets to visit a two dozen museums in the Santa Fe and New York City regions. Did not renew, as currently this museum, like all indoor museums in New Mexico, is closed due to pandemic. Waiting to visit again, as this year's ballon festival is cancelled, before renewing. BTW statues of Juan De Onate, first colonial governor of New Mexico, tried and convicted for atrocities against the native population, were torn down in Albuquerque and nearby in June, 2020 by protesters. Even with the museum closed, it's still in the news. This museum opened May 24, 2009. Big generation gap: 49 reviews on Yelp, 1428 reviews on Tripadvisor. Older folks more attuned to museum hopping.

Three hours was barely long enough to see all of the wonderful displays of this state's/area's history from 1200 A.D. to now. I took 240 photos of their information signs. They have thousand of artifacts, photos, paintings, etc. These people have been through SO much. I learned a lot about local artists. I liked their interesting railroad exhibit. I had never heard of Fred Harvey, his hotels, or the famous Harvey girls (female employees with strict conduct codes). They even have their own cookbook. Museum employees were very friendly--especially the two men in the gift shop. They had great book and accessory recommendations.

If your depth of knowledge about New Mexico goes no deeper than your last Frito pie - and believe me that goes real deep if you know what I mean - then you owe it to yourself to pay a visit to this handsomely mounted museum next to the plaza. The fourth youngest state in the union has quite a colorful past. Unfortunately the historic Palace of the Governors was closed for renovation when Jamie W. and I recently visited, which precluded us from stepping back in time to when the Spanish territorial governor ruled the entire Southwest two centuries back. Luckily the museum was attraction enough for the $12 admission. In chronological order through maps, images, and related artifacts, it covers the state's extensive Native American history, the Spanish Colonial period, the Mexican period, and the road to statehood when it became the 47th in 1912. And even though it was filmed mostly on the MGM backlot, "The Harvey Girls" is celebrated in its own alcove because of Fred Harvey's groundbreaking restaurant chain and of course, the classic song, "On the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe". RELATED - Do you know the way to Santa Fe? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: http://bit.ly/2I4mWdq

This museum is fantastic- in fact, it was funny, as we were getting ready to leave, we looked for the restrooms, and I remembered seeing a sign on the bottom floor: went down there and saw another hour's worth or more of exploring we had yet to do. This museum is very detailed with a ton of extremely interesting historical detail showing both sides of history, which was fascinating. I found myself wanting to go home and look up books on so many topics. If I'm ever back in Santa Fe I would definitely go back!

Hubs and I have both been to the history museum twice. Different years and we enjoyed it both times. They change what is shown often so it's always interesting to see what's new. This place is kid friendly and not over packed.

$12 dollars for tourist open until 5 pm Took us 45 min for a quick visit 3 stairs. Work war 1 and 2 Objects since 1200 or before. Very interesting

This was such a fun and interesting museum. It covered everything from the time before the Spanish arrived and up until present day. It's very modern and well kept and if you are already in such a beautiful and historical city, you may as well educate yourself to appreciate the history of it all. I wish I had snapped more photographs. I highly highly recommend.

My family and I were recently visiting Santa Fe, NM and happened upon this delightful museum of local history. We really enjoyed our visit there learning about the local history, the Harvey Girls, the Railroad, etc. The only disappointment was that we weren't allowed to go to the bottom level. Something was going on there and it was closed off. However, it is worth a visit. Don't forget to take time to explore the Governor's Palace next door.

Stopped by here just to visit the gift shop. The customer service here was excellent and the sales man was well versed on all the artists. Love the earring I bought.

Good museum. We probably spent a few hours enjoying the exhibits. It's set up in an orderly fashion. We were here on a particularly quiet day. Definitely worth the stop.

Excellent presentation of New Mexico history! Beautifully staged...warm, professional staff!

I've been to museums around the world; Phoenix, New York, etc. This museum is spectacular. It's so well done, I was surprised that Santa Fe had a museum this amazing. Also, Johnny the greeter at the front desk is outstandingly professional and welcoming. He was amazing and is well deserving; on the level of a professional docent or other museum staff. The exhibit on the Harvey Girls was one of my favorite. You will see exhibits on WWI, WWII, The Manhattan Project, New Mexico's History, Arizona becoming a state, and more. It was spectacular and was a "much better experience" than the museum across the street (New Mexico Museum of Art) if you're pressed for time down by the plaza, and have to make a choice. If so, chose this museum!! The gift shop was also sufficient for me, as I was able to buy a Harvey Girls DVD and a coffee mug (I collect those). WORTH THE VISIT!

This Museum is one of the best! We have been coming to Santa Fe for the last ten years, but always felt we were missing some of the flavor of the city. We decided to come here after reading about the Museum in our tour book and comparing the reviews with those on Yelp. Tour books are great for giving you an overall macro view of a city. But in Yelp, we found it had the real time skinny! For instance: We would have gone to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, but found on Yelp that they had lent out some their key exhibits to other Museums this summer. Second, the prices quoted in the tour books were years old and incorrectly stated that the O'Keeffe Museum was included. Only Yelp, had the correct and updated information. The NM History Museum has several cool features. They have two large murals of early photography going back to 1888 as you come in. As you walk past them go left, you will enter a hands-on history area which we found extraordinary. They have set up a historiograph time line of the greater New Mexican area going back over five hundred years. I never really appreciated how fought over this part of the world and New Mexico in particular was during that long period. First the Spanish with the First Nation tribes, followed by the the Mexican nationalists, and then of course the US during the Spanish-American War -- all fighting over this piece of paradise. (See photos) This museum is very hands-on, using both visual (picture and video) as well as the physical artifacts from the various eras. We had a great time and will certainly be back on our next trip. If you are in Santa Fe for any reason, you need to stop here first! We only realized that ten years late. Enjoy!

Visited this Museum today. Extremely let down by the exhibits. I was in and out in a brief period of time. Headed over to IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Art which is superb. Probably simply not the type of artwork that interests me although another visitor and I spoke and she was also mightily disappointed. I have no idea what the holdings of the Museum are however who ever is in charge of the current exhibits is falling short of the mark.

We love history, and New Mexico History Museum did not disappoint. The museum is okay. It's the tour guide that made the difference between just average and a most memorable visit. Our guide, Jerry, loved his role, had a story for everything, and was patient with questions. You come away with an understanding of the hard life in the Southwest. A Cowboy's life has been more romanticized than reality. Cowboy Exhibit is temporary, and worth it. History of the area is older than the history of the US. Allow 2 hours, or 3 with tour. If you think this review with photo is useful, funny or cool, I'd appreciate your feedback below.

I was very excited to visit the museum to see the Palace of the Governors. However, upon visiting found that it was closed for renovations until 2020. This wasn't made very clear online and I'm not sure I would have made the effort to come to the museum and pay $12 had I known this. Nonetheless, we were already there and went. The main history exhibit was interesting, clearly an updated, newish exhibit. The temporary exhibit was on the atomic bomb and was also interesting. Overall, the exhibits were interesting enough but I didn't get what I came and paid for.

This was an OK museum. There are definitely things for a history and vintage loving person to like here. Maybe I'm just not as into static museums anymore? Or maybe it's the subject matter? I'm not really sure. But what was interesting about this place was imagining the Who's Who of this area living in this place, and then a few of the items they had in their collection. That stagecoach!! Some Gustav Baumann stuff. D. H. Lawrence's travel (?) case. Kinda random. The new section of the museum looked really 80's. Or maybe the 80s were completely based on New Mexico style? It's just that this was built less than 10 years ago, and it really looked like it was out of the 80s. Anyway, if you're killing some time it's not a bad place to wander around.

Even though Covid-19 still limits the number of visitors who can be in the incredible History Museum downtown, the New Mexico History Museum recently added two tools to make the Museum accessible to visitors around the world. The first thing the Museum did was to use digital technology to allow people to walk through the entire museum in the same manner that you can see a house-for-sale on a virtual walk-through. The technology is amazing! As you "walk" through the museum, you can see every exhibit and can even click on virtual buttons on the wall to read display text panels in English or Spanish. The self-guided tour is super user-friendly and can be accessed 24/7. In addition to this amazing feature, the Museum also provides hour-long docent-led (narrated) virtual tours every Wednesday and Thursday. The tours are free and you register through the Museum's website (Virtual Tours). Although it is not quite as much fun as exploring the Museum in person, it is cool to be able to join a virtual tour from the comfort of your living room - no matter where you might be!

Nice museum with beautiful exhibits and timelines showing the NM history. The Governor's Palace was closed for remodeling so we didn't get a chance to check that out. Love how the tickets are free for active military...thank you!

The museum has a daily hour long Docent led tour that is worthwhile a helps you appreciate New Mexico's long history, extending thousands of years before the Spanish arrived. I really appreciated the efforts to keep the museum from being too Western centric. The price wasn't expensive, and we were able to visit by going through the palace if the governors. You could spend about three hours in the museum. It's worth it, especially if Santa Fe is experiencing torrential summer rains.

The New Mexico History Museum is a fun and educational museum telling the story of the state from the arrival of the first Spanish settlers until the present day. Much of the museum focuses on the colonization period - how the Spanish forces and the native Pueblo peoples interacted (and often fought) with one another. The museum traces the story as the land changes hands multiple times - originally the native peoples, then the Spaniards, then Mexico, and finally the US. The museum faithfully portrays the many sides of the conflict, neither demonizing one side or the other, nor washing over the many injustices. There are also a few rooms on the 20th century, highlighting how New Mexico became a state, the impact of the railroad, and the nuclear research during WWII and the Cold War. These fun exhibitions remind us that New Mexico is constantly evolving - not leaving behind its history, but also not dwelling in the past forever. They offer guided tours every few hours, where a museum volunteer will take you through the colonization portion of the museum and talk about everything. I found this quite informative, but it was also very long (one hour) and dragged quite a bit. If you love history, you'll probably enjoy the tour - but otherwise, consider skipping the guided tour and just exploring the museum on your own. Overall, at $12, I thought the museum was a good value. If you plan on visiting other state-sponsored museums in New Mexico (such as the New Mexico Museum of Art next door), consider purchasing the Culture Pass for $30. If you visit just 3 or more museums, it saves you money. I hope you enjoy your visit and learn something new!

I'm a great fan of history museums and this is one of the best I've seen in the United States. The exhibits have been recently upgraded and cover the history of New Mexico from the lives of the indigenous peoples a thousand years ago to the present. I was particularly impressed with the Civil War exhibit, displays on the artists colonies of the 1920s and 30s, and even the history of the Harvey girls (yes, they referenced the Judy Garland movie). As a bonus, you get to walk inside the Palace of the Governors, which has been on this site since 1610. If you want to learn more about the fascinating history of this region, be sure to visit.

3.5 stars. This history museum is overall geared towards school outings and is a little shallow and elementary but still worth a go. It's fairly small and will take 1.5-2.5 hours to get through depending on how many of the interactive screens you read though and if you hit all the sections. Overall a shallow dive into a wide breadth of topics. The museum is very darkly lit in some areas, inexplicably. Most interesting stuff currently is on the lowest level of the museum - Harvey Girls and cigar box printing. I also did not realize New Mexico had as much involvement in the Civil War as it did, so I learned something new.

A well planned out museum. Way too much to absorb it all in one visit but loads of information

Free Fridays. What?? Every Friday, from 5-8, the museum is open to the public for free. Yep. Free. This behemoth of a glass & stone building with glorious glorious a/c, a beautiful courtyard and multiple levels of well-curated historical pieces is free. How can you not like that? Beyond the physical beauty of the building, I loved the layout. I was greeted at the door by a security officer who handed me a map, gave me a quick intro to how the building was laid out, when the docent tour was going to begin, and sent me on my way. The museum has a terrific collection of art, clothes, photos, artifacts, movies, and aural histories. Collections that stood out to me: NM's journey to statehood, the changing population of the state, events of local, national and international significance, and local flavor that makes NM The Land of Enchantment. The top floor has a rotating gallery and it's worth it to check it out. While I was there, the collection was based upon women's roles in New Mexico history. As ignorant as it makes me sound, I was shocked to see how many significant contributions African-American women (especially in the medical field) have made it the state. I never considered New Mexico a place of migration for African-Americans and getting a chance to learn the history was illuminating for me. The rest of the collection was just as interesting. It started with Native women and focused on art, clothes, looms, pottery, and contributions to the home. The tour then settled into 'pioneer' women, the creation of a different sensibility/culture, inroads in and out of the home, and culminated in the election of Susana Martinez -- New Mexico's first female governor and the first latina governor in the US.* Easily accessible and genuinely interesting, the New Mexico History Museum is a fantastic way to spend time learning more about the beautiful city and state that sits in America's Southwest. Admittedly, the external design drew me in, but the collection kept me there. And, the a/c. It's glorious. Glorious, I say! *Apropos of nothing, Bill Richardson was on my flight from Chicago to Albuquerque. Sorta cool.

Nice view of history, from the 1600s through nuclear testing after World War II. Also has nice railroad expansion displays. $12 for non resident to enter.

Very informative museum. I took a couple of girls in their early 20s, and they had never heard of the Harvey House, the Lincoln County War, or the Navajo code talkers, all of which fascinated them. So there is no question this museum does a great job. Two things would make it five stars: as another review mentioned, the flow is poor. And they ask you not to take pictures of the stuff in the exhibit on the creation of the atomic bomb. Why put cool stuff on display and then tell you not to take photos? Is it still considered a top secret project 73 years later? Is it so you'll buy one of the many books on display in the gift shop?

We did a whirlwind of activities today and this was our last history lesson of the day! We only had about thirty minutes this afternoon before they closed so we only saw portions unfortunately. The museum was a tiny bit confusing on where to go but a guard very nicely walked us through some options. We walked through the history of New Mexico and thought it was very, very well laid out and easy to engage with. The pinhole camera exhibit was also very well done.

Interesting place with a wealth of information. Right in the heart of the plaza . Defiantly support the Natives outside selling crafts etc .

I love history museums. This place has a lot of pretty good written detail of the artifacts and history. The history covered here is primarily euorpeans colonizing NM though, but the main issue I had was with the guided tour. It began when the greeter at the front desk was explaining to us where things were in the museum, when talking about a gentleman that established hotels and restaurants early on in NM he said "he'd even hire you!" Then explained that women didn't have a place outside of the home back then which is WILDLY incorrect and a clear example of a subjective worldview that only acknowledges women in history when they were useful to men and/or "pretty". Which was also reflected in some of the exhibits and the guided tour where the tour guide also described this man and his gross business model of hiring pretty young girls but spoke with a tone of pride and amazement that made me wonder what year it was in their head. The guided tour included a lot of problematic descriptions that painted the spanish, and subsequent white colonizing populations, in a neutral or good way and the Native Americans as "trouble makers" (an actual descriptive term used by our tour guide), frequently pointed out subjective and western-centric views of "inadequances" of native cultures, and white washed a lot of really important historical events. The end of the tour included SOME small truth about the atrocities committed against Native Americans but then the tour guide tried to sugar coat the horrific boarding schools with the "good things" to come out of the forcibly removing children from their homes and families and then oppressing and abusing them.

Wow, this museum is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside. To go thru the entire museum will take at least 3 hours so plan accordingly. I kind of wish I had known that ahead of time so we didn't spend 1/2 a day on it (we were only in SF for 1 weekend) but once we were inside we didn't want to leave. It was so interesting. The largest exhibit on display while we were there (not sure how often the rotate) was the history of New Mexico. I have never seen such a comprehensive exhibit. I mean, they went from pre-historic times, to an in depth look at Native American cultures, to Spanish explorers and settlers, on to the Texans and Americans and all the border skirmishes, all the way up to modern times with ranchers, farmers, scientists, and military activities in the state. Very, very in-depth. I highly recommend this to someone who is new to the state and wants to get acclimated and learn about their new home. But as a tourist you could skip it unless you have plenty of time and love history. On the plus side, if you are getting overloaded on art, then this is something different to do right in the middle of the plaza. My hubby loved this one!

This museum is located on the backside of the Plaza and almost empty during our Saturday visit. Discount admission is offered to New Mexico residents, but out of state tourists are charged 50% more. As out-of-towners, there were lots of information and details about New Mexico history that we did not know. The museum was nicely laid out, and we were able to read and set a slower pace because there were no crowds. Worth a visit to understand the history of New Mexico.

This museum was very fun to go to. it's very large and has three and a half floors. If you go please make sure you take your time and also make sure you have time to take. I gave it 4 stars because unfortunately they've got the whole palace of governors close down for renovations and it would be awesome to see a building that was built in the 1600s by the Spaniards. It has great displays and it's got plenty of room to add more. There's unique artwork there also and the staff was very polite and pleasant. we did not have enough time to look at everything so we plan on returning again to finish the displays.

I really liked the New Mexico history museum. My dad wanted to go to the hall of governors, and the ticket covered both the hall of governors and this museum. I liked learning about the Harvey girls, and it was interesting to learn about New Mexico history.

The staff here is RUDE AS HELL. This was my firs time ever in Santa Fe. Parking and driving through town are nightmares. One-way streets (to make it safer for pedestrians) and no parking anywhere. Finally found a lot a bit away from where I wanted to be; a nice couple from Texas and I figured out the pay machine since the attendant booth was empty. I was at the museum for a special event. When I walked in there was no staff, no signage. I wandered around aimlessly. No one checked on me; I could find no one to answer any questions. It wasn't clear to me if I could open doors or go in rooms. Eventually I took the stairs because I could hear voices. There was a great Harvey House exhibit! I was excited because I know about Harvey Houses from the Angela Lansbury-Judy Garland movie! I don't know if I knew it was really a "real" thing. They have some of his notebooks with meticulous billing info and a uniform. This could be the extent of the whole museum; I don't know. Out of nowhere a security guard stuck her face in mine and snarled "YOU CAN'T BRING THAT IN HERE!" - I had a doggie bag with my delicious, expensive pie in it that I was not ABOUT to throw out! I said that oh, I was just going to be sitting for a private event and anyway I'd been here awhile with it already. She said that I should have "never gotten in!" like I'd breached some super secret bunker with my terrorizing pie. It was ridiculous. She was so unnecessarily hostile. In the 15 minutes that I had wandered the halls unsupervised I had not vandalized or spilled or caused any sort of pie emergency. I kind of held my ground on the issue, and my only option was to go downstairs and put my pie in a locker. I get downstairs, and NOW there's a staff member whose job is to evidently sit and be as unhelpful as possible. The lockers take a quarter ("It's only a quarter ma'am, and anyway you get it back."). I don't carry change usually and had no cash. I asked what do I do - it's not the price it's the physical quarter. He was dumbstruck. At this point it was 2 minutes til the start of my event. My final option was to RUN alllll the way across the block to my car up the hill a ways and put my pie in my car then RUN back down, in my heels and nice clothes. I was so frustrated I wanted to cry. Their behavior was ridiculous. I thought about driving away and just not even staying; it ruined my trip. I'm relatively new to New Mexico and everywhere I've been people are SO nice. Santa Fe was my first bad New Mexico experience. Honestly, if I never go back I'm sure I'll be FINE. There's millions of other places to visit!

The History Museum has solidly decent exhibits. It also has some great views of Santa Fe from its rooftop patios. I love coming over here on Sundays and just wondering around and exploring the exhibits. (which is free for New Mexico residents) The one thing I wish they would do differently is allow you to take photographs of nonsensitive materials. There's a lot here that's beautiful and would be really fun to experiment with. :(

There's just not much to see if you already have the cultural pass and it's included than it's worth stopping by, otherwise I don't think it's worth the money. I learned so much more interesting NM history from the museums on Museum Hill than this spot.

Today at the New Mexico History Museum I was asked to leave since the gift shop after doing nothing wrong. It is arrogant for an adult to think that just because someone is young means they are going to steal something. I felt that it was disrespectful for the employee to assume such a deed. This is not how you treat customers and individuals. I feel that an 18 year old should not have to be constantly monitored since they have done nothing wrong.

Well I have to start this review by pointing out that the docents who staff this museum know literally nothing about New Mexico, New Mexico history, or what they are talking about if it doesn't involve a poorly maintained database that is printed out bi-weekly by their managers. I asked three of them vaguely specific questions about Santa Fe's local history and every one of these poor ladies had obviously never even walked through the museum itself. And really, that's fine, docents in New Mexico don't usually have pride about their jobs in my experience... But here, at the HISTORY Museum, you would think that at least one out of three would have a clue... Sadly this was not the case, and I'm over it... With that said, this is a great museum to walk through. Expect at least a 2 hour tour of the exhibits, with the extended possibility of a four hour walkthrough if you literally nothing about the historical aspects of New Mexico. The ground floor deals with little historically until the late 1500's, when the Spanish people are said to have first arrived in the State of NM... There's some really great relics and a lot of information when you get to the 1700's, and that's pretty much where the entire show starts. Lots of multimedia and lots of artifacts from that time, albiet with decade-long gaps that are noticeable as you walk the floor. I personally found the lack of a point of view from the native american community extremely lacking on this section. We were then somewhat asked to walk down a flight of meandering stairs to the basement level where the late 1700's to mid 1800's was on display where more of the displays were better thought out... I personally loved the in-depth area of the timeline where the museum describes the corruption that has been the bane of New Mexico politics ever since the early 1800's... Interesting just how many family names you still see on the state government buildings, even to this day... By the time you walk through this section, after the well-produced film on New Mexico, Politics, Project Manhattan, and the hippies who came here in the mid-seventies, You're sort of prompted to ride the elevator up to the second floor (badly) where the discussion and event areas are... Unfortunately this area, which also houses the admin offices is poorly maintained aside from the final "Changing Exhibition", which was the crown of the entire museam in my opinion... The discussion area and gathering room has weird 1970's uncomfortable couches and chairs. The few computers on this floor prompt you to go to web pages that aren't supported by current applications and technology. I crashed both computers just by hitting their links trying to use the http://www.nmhistorymuseum.org/ website on THEIR SITE? iT WORKS HERE AT MY HOUSE, WHY DOESN'T IT WORK AT THE MUSEUM? Weird. But anyways, the second floor display of what essentially equates to victorian age / Santa Fe Style clothing is amazing. I would have spent hours there if I had known it was there in the first place. This display is a class act, and holds even a mirthfull outlook on fashion in my opinion... So to round it out, the docents need to get their acts together, and the rest of the museum was a treat to see... It'll be interesting to see the new exhibits when they come up.

A beautifully designed space with great docent led tour of the exhibits. I've read a lot and traveled around the state all my life but I learned some new things and had misconceptions corrected. Really wonderful selection of books the shop.

My wife and I thought this museum was great! New Mexico has a fascinating history and this facility does a great job of presenting and explaining its many artifacts. We spent nearly the whole day here so it was greatly appreciated that we were able to leave and comeback for lunch. The only downside we could think of was the two-tiered pricing structure they have for in-state and out-of-state visitors. As out of state tourists we felt like we were already leaving a lot of money behind in NM given our heavily taxed hotel room, car rental, and three meals a day in local restaurants. Even so, it's a great museum that's worth visiting.

This place is so beautifully set up, the tour was so enlightening, and the museum store has really wonderful things for sale. The admission prices were totally reasonable, and they let military (active and vets) in for free. There is also a student discount. If you live in New Mexico, like New Mexico, or are visiting NM there is NO reason you shouldn't go here. You will learn so much. The tour with Rose was especially enlightening. She is a great docent!

The rich history on New Mexico, from pre-Conquistadora days to the present, is laid out in a logical, informative exhibit that brings it alive. I usually find myself breezing through museums of this type, picking certain parts to stop and study. But the exhibit is laid out so well here, in a logical unfolding story, that I found myself stopping and reading it all to make sure I fully appreciated how the area has developed and emerged into what it is today. I thought the early colonial period was the best, and I learned a lot that I never learned in school back east, where we focus so much on just English colonial history. There was a lot going on in the New Mexico area, and it was going on before the American Revolution, or even Jamestown! I learned a lot and enjoyed learning it...what more can you ask of a museum?

I really enjoyed this museum a lot. I learned history that I did not know. It was laid out well and had both informative plaques and historical artifacts. I agree that the first floor is much better than the lower level. The gift shop is quite good and no tax is levied on purchases there. Entrance to the museum is only $9 for an out of state adult and it is well worth the money. It was a great experience and I am glad that we went.

I was very impressed with this place. It's PACKED with information, and an enjoyable flow to the rooms makes for a great way to spend an afternoon. It looked fairly new and well put together. If you really want to take it all in, be sure to allow for enough time. The actual exhibit is bigger than it looks, and probably requires most of an afternoon to see the whole thing.

So fascinating seeing how our states came to be. New Mexico has a rich history and this place has some awesome artifacts and background on the history that made it what it is today. I am not a museum guy but this was a nice way to feed the brain.

Wish we had more time for it, but we'll be back. Fred Harvey exhibit was particularly interesting; the influence the company had on the region is hard to overstate.