11 Museums to Explore in Alachua County

Archer Historical Society Museum, located in an old railroad depot built before 1900, contains exhibits about the history of the area.

Boulware Springs Water Works is a renowned historic landmark. Constructed in 1895 and designed by Len A. Brackett, this waterworks facility was built to provide the city with clean and potable water. The rustic-style structure made of local limestone added grandeur to the city's landscape. After continued disuse and neglect, it was restored in 2014-15 with aid from the Alachua County government to its former beauty and serves as a reminder of bygone days.

The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention is named after Dr. Robert Cade, the lead inventor of Gatorade, and reflects his philosophy of combining science and art in a way that is "purposeful creativity".

As the official natural history museum of Florida, the Florida Museum of Natural History was chartered in 1917 by the Florida Legislature.

The Florida State Collection of Arthropods, is an important asset for entomologists and other members of the scientific community. It contains specimens of arthropods from all over the state of Florida, making it a valuable resource to study their diversity, ecology and distributions. The entomology collection includes important information on species identification and taxonomy as well as a wide range of fully accessibly archived data.

The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art occupies 112,800 square feet of space, making it one of the largest university art museums in the South.

Hawthorne Historical Museum & Cultural Center features exhibits illustrating the history of Hawthorne, particularly those relating to the military.

This Museum provides a vibrant glimpse into the area's history. Located in a restored building that was once the city hall and fire station.It reveals the stories of local residents and the community through carefully crafted displays. Its permanent exhibit chronicles the history of High Springs from its earliest days to modern times with artifacts, photographs. Visitors can learn about the county's industry including lumbering, cattle raising, citrus production and turpentine harvesting.

Historic Haile Homestead, also known as Haile Plantation House or Kanapaha, is located in Gainesville, Florida. Thomas Evans and Serena Chesnut Haile built the house in 1856 as part of their original 1,500-acre (6.1 km2) cotton plantation.

Matheson History Museum building, formerly an American Legion hall, opened in 1994 as a museum

Micanopy Historical Society was founded in 1983 after the Micanopy Historic District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places by its nomination committee.