Western Heritage Center

This museum has a series of art and history exhibits, all with a Western motif. It's well worth a visit. I would recommend giving yourself about 2 hours. The criminal justice exhibit is my favorite.

Mediocre museum with tedious Black history presentation, and almost nothing about Native American history. View of 3 states from balcony. Nice quilt exhibit in hallway.

Pretty small museum, with only a couple exhibits at a time. I was able to get through it within an hour, although if you're engrossed in the subjects it might take you a bit longer. However, the admission is only $5, and the staff is really friendly and knowledgeable. The building is pretty historic too and interesting too. No parking lot, so you'll either have to hunt for a spot on the street or use a garage.

Interpretive museum that changes exhibits regularly. Informative in the topic which was currently Disabilities. There was some western/ Native American art. In my opinion they should change the name to Diversity Heritage Center to be more appropriate.

Very informative and some neat exhibits. I really like the exhibit on the Apsáalooke tribe and the video the had playing. While we were there they had an exhibit on various pandemics and the affects on the people of Billings. I do wish they had a little more on the history of the building but it was a nice stop downtown

I was a bit disappointed as there wasn't much to look at. The best part was downstairs with the rifles, Guns, wagons and numerous other older history type stuff that I would expect to find in a museum of Western heritage.

Great piece of early 1900 architecture and well preserved. Was once a library but now is a cultural center with wonderful exhibits and educational lectures

The place was peaceful and ideal for families. Children played freely while adults enjoyed the scenery.

What a great little museum in down town Billings (across the street from the coolest pawn shop I have ever been in, btw!), so glad we decided to stop in! We were fortunate to get parking right up front although I'm sure it gets really tricky considering its down town. I appreciate the architecture, the building itself is really beautiful. There are 2 floors, the main floor has a couple of side rooms, and downstairs there was an area where little ones could color and try out a pair of maracas (these went along with the Hispanic heritage theme). There are stairs as well as an elevator so it is ADA accessible. I believe the cost was 5 dollars per adult, 3 for students and kids. Totally worth it, I'd recommend anyone to pay this museum a visit!

We really enjoyed our visit to the Western Heritage Center. We needed to use the street level door so had to ring the bell to be let in. The door was answered promptly and an elevator was easily accessible. The exhibits were very interesting and we learned some of our countries history that we were not taught in school. I highly recommend a visit.

It was "just okay" as a Heritage Center. We're in town for a day and decided to check out the Western Heritage Center. We thought we'd see and learn quite a bit about western heritage and culture. And there was a bit of that here but not much. There was a large art installation and info on the life of Ben Steele, a former Japanese POW, turned artist and art instructor. We did enjoy learning about Mr Steele and his life. There was some information about Yellowstone National park but related mostly about bears. There was some information about Native American Indians. We paid $5 for one adult and $3 for one senior. We felt the price was about right and while we enjoyed learning about Mr Steele, we were left a bit puzzled about this Western Heritage Center.

I really like the museum! The volunteers are fabulous and informed. They love Billings and want to share it with the world via the museum. The exhibit change every three months so go it the museum every time. Grab a book or two while you are there too, it adds to your experience.

Simple but complete. We went here to "kill" some time and we ended having a good experience. They had an exhibition from Clyde Aspevig and Ben Steele that was beautiful. Works of J. K. Ralston (incredible) and another of stories from the open country. The most interesting for me was an exhibition about the Cheyennes. After going around Yellowstone, I was just left wondering how did people looked like when they were able to live in their land. Here you have a good summary.

Great place. Super innovative exhibits. They have spent a lot of time collecting oral histories of Montanans of all kinds. They are a Smithsonian affiliate, and that DOES mean something. Also their staff is great!

Very nicely done in showing Billings history, Ralston (artist), about the fires that hit Yellowstone, Indian culture etc

Spent a couple of hours in this great historic library. Admission very reasonable. Took 5 kids ages 12-4 and everyone had a good time. Went on a weekday afternoon and nearly had the entire place to ourselves - the kids could play with each exhibit as much as they wanted! Hands-on exhibits are everywhere, practically everything in the building is hands-on in some way or another - fun, engaging and educational - even for Mom and Dad. The museum is small and very doable in a couple of hours.