As we head into repair and restoration, some exhibits, artifacts, and events will be impacted.The Cincinnati History Museum is now closed for the duration of the repair and restoration of Union Terminal.For a full update on the restoration process, please click here or visit My Union Terminal.
About the Museum
Step back in time and experience the history of our city from the first settlers through World War II. Along the way, meet costumed interpreters to better understand and connect to history. Take an aerial view of Cincinnati from the early 1900s in Cincinnati In Motion, a 1/64-scale replica of the city complete with the nation’s largest S-Scale train. Explore a recreation of the once bustling Cincinnati Public Landing from the late 1850s and climb aboard the Queen City of the West, a replica side-wheel steamboat. Find out the role Cincinnati, and Union Terminal, played in welcoming soldiers home in Cincinnati Goes to War. Experience a past that you might never have known about with a new adventure at every turn in the Cincinnati History Museum.
Exhibits and Special Events

A model of the city of Cincinnati from 1900 through the 1940s with working trains, streetcars and inclines, as well as interactive computer stations that bring Cincinnati's history to life.

Explore Cincinnati's wartime contributions in Home Front and stop by the factory wall to hear stories of people working in local factories.

You can experience life in early Cincinnati through historically accurate scenes, music and letters, and words from people living in the area.

Between 1850 and 1900, Cincinnati was the machine tool capital of the world. Find out about this aspect of the Queen City's history.

Due to portions of the building being temporarily closed for the restoration of Union Terminal, the Duke Energy Holiday Trains will not be on display this year. For the safety and long-term preservation of the trains and to prevent unnecessary wear and tear, we have sheltered the Duke Energy Holiday Trains in place during the project.