Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum

If it wasn't for a cold rainy Florida day I may have missed this gem. In looking for something to do on a no beach day I stumbled on this museum. Well worth the visit and a great local history lesson.

What a great find, this museum is a true hidden gem right here in South Florida! It’s the perfect place to dive into the rich history of Palm Beach County. The exhibits are put together with care and really keep you interested the whole way through. It’s a cool mix of learning and exploring that’s great for both locals and out-of-towners. Definitely a spot worth checking out if you’re in the area!

Nice little museum inside the old courthouse. Great spot to learn a bit about West Palm Beach if you're in town. It’s clean, the staff is super friendly, and it’s totally free.

Cool architecture and a great spot for pictures as well as the mega building across the street.

A fantastic experience! This museum is a hidden gem and an excellent place to explore the rich history of South Florida—especially Palm Beach County. The exhibits are thoughtfully curated, informative, and engaging. Highly recommended for locals and visitors alike.

If you like History, this museum focuses on local Florida history in their exhibits. This was my second visit and went to see "Wish you were here". Florida as it evolved as a tourist destination! From art to sports! Fee for special exhibits charged

We enjoyed a fabulous guided tour with Rhonda. She was so knowledgable and had interesting stories that we would not have gotten if we went through the exhibit ourselves. I highly recommend a guided tour if you’re coming to the museum.

What a wonderful compilation of the history of the West Palm Beach area. A must for anyone visiting and would like to learn about how it all started. The Docent is very knowledgeable if you have any questions. I would highly recommend this museum.

I really enjoyed learning about the West Palm beach history from David our historian . Level one first floor has the history of the holocaust. Second floor has the entrance and our guide explain the history about this building ,the third floor has this beautiful court . Entrance is free About this building The Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum is a history museum in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida. The museum's exhibits and collection cover local history, with a permanent collection of millions of objects and images that span over 12,000 years of Palm Beach County and Florida history.The museum offers multiple exhibits, ranging from online collections to in-person displays, including both its permanent People and Places galleries as well as temporary special exhibits that open each fall, located in the Courtroom Gallery on the third floor of the 1916 courthouse.It is operated by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. The museum is housed in a 1916 courthouse building, at 300 North Dixie Highway.

This County Museum is located in the historic Palm Beach County courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach. The stone building is large and impressive. The museum is open every day but Sunday and is free. We came here, however, for a special exhibit so there was a charge of $12 per person. There are no discounts for admission (no veterans or senior citizen or other discounts). The exhibits here are self-guided. Although they do offer some guided tours for a fee. We entered the building by the steep steps fronting Dixie Highway. If you have any walking issues, I suggest using the side entrance that is designated for handicap visitors. It's much easier to use -- and there is an elevator to bring you to the floors you wish to visit. We didn't stop to see the old, restored courtroom on the third floor nor the holocaust exhibit on the first floor, but headed directly to the special exhibit we'd come to see. The "Wish You Were Here" exhibit (on the second floor) is about tourism in Palm Beach County. As a former member of the tourism/hospitality industry for over thirty years, this was of special interest to me. The exhibit started here in November 2024 and runs through June 2025. They had an audio tour -- you just scan the QR code with your phone -- and you can follow along as it explains the various exhibits. They start with the first visitors to the county in the late 1800's and take you through to the modern era. There's even a film by the local Visitors Bureau about the County and its growth. You get to see posters, paintings, artifacts, etc. from the early hotels to the current sports activities. After that special exhibit, we headed over across the hall (still on the second floor) to see some of the regular exhibits about the area. And then walked through the gift shop. We're glad we came. It was especially interesting to me because of my tourism background, but anyone residing in the County or new to the area might find it both educational and informative.

Cute, very small county courthouse museum with artifacts from mostly the early 1920's. Focuses heavily on the hotels of Palm Beach County. It takes about an hour if you decide to read every placard and watch the short film. There is a gift shop on the premise. Suggested $5 per person donation for entry. Apparently in 1916 they built this courthouse, built an addition a few years later that looked exactly like it. Then in the 70's(?) they built a modern office building around it so it looked terrible. Later they built a fancy new courthouse across the street (which is currently being used in a case involving the last president.) While the addition was torn down, the inside of the original 1916 courthouse was restored and is a small county museum. The courtroom looks like it is used for community events and a passage way to currently-in-use offices. Visited: July 2023

It is one of the places that every West Palm Beach visitor should stop to learn more about the history of the place they are. There is not charge to visit, it's free entrance. After we shared our zip code, the docent provided to us a excellent introductory tour. The museum isn't big, but is very interesting and provides several short stories about history and rapid population growth with railroad coming to the West Palm Beach and connecting with big cities on the East coast, particularly with New York City.

What a great place! Free admission, you do have to pay for street parking, but it's $1 an hour, and they have three separate rooms of revolving exhibits. You can even go to the third floor to see an old courtroom. The whole thing is very nice and I just wish they were open more hours.

Volunteer staff is always accommodating and takes time to explain the history of the courthouse. Even though I've been here several times before, bringing out of town guests to enjoy, each visit I learn something new. They were updating one of the rooms on this visit. However, I always like to bring a new person each time to enjoy. Each person is amazed at the Florida history this place provides. Opportunity to improve would be to install more interactive displays for kids to enjoy.

I love this little museum so much. To start with it is housed on the first floor of the Neoclassical 1916 Palm Beach Courthouse. Architectural features of the building include oak paneling, mosaic tile hallways, maple floors, and a two story courtroom with balcony and skylights. When it was built it was called "the handsomest" in Florida. Soon after it was built however it was forced to expand to meet the needs of the growing community. One expansion took place in 1927 but the worst one was a 5.5 million dollar wraparound that covered building in 1969. A new larger courthouse was built across the street in 1995. Preservationists then worked to restore this building and the first thing they removed was the wraparound. After many years a multi million dollar restoration of this building was completed in 2008 and the history museum opened. After you visit the museum be sure to explore the quaint courthouse. The balcony contains exhibits on Florida law and it's history. The first floor history museum contains three galleries. The people gallery examines more than 100 people who made contributions to Palm Beach. Some of the exhibits focus on the Seminoles, pioneers, and business leaders in the community. The place gallery focuses on the animals and ecology of Palm Beach. I really enjoyed the Barefoot Mailman exhibit. The Barefoot Mailmen were US postal workers who delivered the mail in the 1850's by walking barefoot on the beach from Palm Beach to Miami. One of the mailmen mysteriously disappeared at the Hillsboro Lighthouse. There is also a gallery for temporary exhibits. The current one is Building Paradise: Addison Mizner's Legacy. The exhibit explores architect Addison Mizner whose Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture can be seen throughout Palm Beach and Boca Raton. It's on display until June 29th. In addition to operating the museum the Historical Society also offers many events throughout the year which includes lectures and history tours. You can find a listing of their events on their website. Entrance is free to the museum and you can find meter parking outside. This museum is a historical treasure that everyone should visit and support.

On a recent trip to West Palm Beach, I had the opportunity to visit this museum. To be honest, when I think of West Palm Beach I do not think about museums, let alone a history museum. However, to my pleasant surprise, this museum was fun and informative. I visited it on a recommendation, and I'm glad that I did. First, it is staffed by volunteer docents who are passionate and informative. These docents give free guided tours of the museum, but these tours are only given on a schedule. You will need to check schedule if you want one of these tours. Second, the museum is small, but covers the long history of the area well. These exhibits cover not only the political history of the area, but also the environmental and social history as well. Third, the building itself is very special and has historically significance to the area. It served as the Palm Beach County courthouse from 1916 until 1995. The building is beautifully restored and worth the trip just to see the building. The best part is that the museum is free.

My son and I spent a rainy afternoon here a few days ago. We're both enjoy Florida history, so this is the place to be. The docents were very cheerful, informative, and helpful. Being in a building with so much history is a humbling and interesting experience. The preserved court room reeks of history. The history of the building itself is quite fascinating. We especially enjoyed the "Florida in the Civil War" exhibit which ends July 2, so if you want to see it you have only a few weeks to visit. The artifacts, displays, costumes, diaries, and photographs tell the history of this county very well.

This is a hidden gem of a museum. What is not obvious is that this is the old courthouse before the mega church across the street was built. If you go in and up to the second floor, they have maintained the old courtroom that is very Atticus Finch like. America's Southern heritage is hard to find - and here it is - for us to appreciate if only we know it exists! "I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. "Your father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corn cribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill to Kill a Mockingbird"

What a little gem of history this is. The 100+ yr old building itself has quite a tale to tell. The volunteer staff is a wealth of information. The museum exhibits have been created keeping preservation in mind, telling the stories of this county and the surrounding area. Very informative information that is easy to read and can be quite surprising. The building seeps of history and you can feel it in every room. Upstairs they have left a courtroom intact and it gave me goosebumps to be in there. From the beautiful wooden jurors chairs, to looking up at the balcony where people of color were forced to sit. I felt like I was Scout and Atticus Finch was going to walk in at any moment. Give yourself at least 90 minutes to really absorb all this place has to offer.