Old Capitol Museum

The Old Capitol Museum is a beautiful and historic place to visit, with well-preserved architecture and interesting exhibits about Iowa’s history. It’s calm, informative, and easy to explore. Downtown Iowa City nearby is lively and vibrant, with lots of cafés, bookstores, and places to walk around. The mix of history, culture, and student energy makes this area a great place to spend a few hours.

If you're in the Iowa City area, you should definitely stop in to see the Old Capitol. There is so much history in this place. It's free to get in and doesn't take long to get through unless you're reading every exhibit.

Awesome. Great place to spend the afternoon. Very educational, pretty cool to see the history and standing in places where the state decisions were made. Best part, its free. Thank you.

A wonderful bit of history to enjoy in the University of Iowa campus. We found paid parking spots nearby for up to 2 hours (coins and cards welcome). The museum itself is free but a donation box sits inside the entrance for anyone willing to contribute. Two friendly students welcomed us and gave a nice description of what we could find. We enjoyed the self-guided tour at a leisurely pace and appreciated the beauty and thorough descriptions of the rooms/exhibits. The bathrooms were clean and well-stocked and the gift shop was charming. I could have posted more pictures but you should check it out in person. 😉

We doubt about stopping in this town, After we walked around we found great restaurants and a lot of historic buildings, Zero regrets Visiting this cozy place.

Gal at the front was incredibly helpful! Building is beautiful and well-built, especially after the fire. There's a great display in the basement of before and after the fire and some knowledgeable ladies who were going into the Archive Room down there. It was fun to see the difference in the Old Capitol Senate and House Rooms and the ones in the Des Moines Capitol. Fun facts are posted in all the rooms as well. The gift shop had a lot of neat stuff in it too!

This is a very cool little piece of Americana history. I really apreciate that they really keep restrictions as minimal as possible. You can really get right up to the artifacts. I really apreciated the extra tid bits about interactions with Native peoples. The place is really cleen and well done. The bathrooms are nice too. The room in the basement level also has so modern things done for the university. A great place to take photos and everyone was friendly it's also free!

The Old Capitol remains one of the most recognizable symbols of the state of Iowa.  In the many years since the cornerstone was laid, the building has served state legislatures, countless university uses, and has undergone multiple additions and renovations, even surviving a major fire in 2001.

This is a really cool monument in Iowa history. There is a lot of history to learn here, and the building architecture and decor is really neat. It's all free too! The only reason we didn't give it 5 stars is parking is a little difficult to obtain to get to the building, and there's not TONS of info in the building. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

A must-see in Iowa City. Free! Swing by here before or after you visit the Museum of Natural History Museum in Macbride Hall. We've lived in Iowa City and worked on campus for a couple of years and (I'm embarrassed to say) finally visited. Pre-1857 Iowa City was the capital of the state of Iowa. This building is THE former state capital. I loved seeing how the building and its artifacts have been preserved. A heck of a lot of history here. We'll be back because there was a private event going on upstairs so we weren't able to explore those floors. Recommend. Consider donating to the museum/university's preservation efforts.

This is certainly a definite stop for all visitors to Iowa. The preservation of such a historic icon is essential to understanding the greatness of the state. It is also such a humbling fashion to see how our branches of government work in conjunction with our federal counterparts. This building has gone through not only some great preservation but also restoration from their recent fires just about 10 years ago. The grand staircase is amazing and both the exterior and interiors are prime examples of the period architecture that is of the 1800s. Used both as the state capitol and a vital part of the University, the significance of this building is grand. Be sure to visit the basement to view the original bell that was saved from their fires.

I visited here after seeing its Natural History museum in the next building. Another gem with free admission and you can get a tour from a guide too. It was getting close to closing time. I walked through and amazed at the new exhibit on Maize or Corn History- History and Science Behind It. Then, I met the gift shop girl who told me that she could give me an abbreviated tour of this Capitol Building- Iowa's 1st. Well, it is really nice and majestic. You get a sense of history here and Emily- my guide did a fantastic job. Best of luck to her after graduating from here.

What a wonderful, wonderful experience. This is a beautiful capitol building with lots of history. Phone ahead to get a tour. But even walking through with no guide was still an amazing time. Staff is super friendly and full of information.