Is the Buffalo Bill Center the Nation’s Best History Museum? You Decide!
Written by Andrew-Rossi on January 25, 2023
USA Today has launched another series of Readers’ Choice top ten lists for 2023. Once again, Cody stands to take a prominent place, thanks to its legendary – and large – museum complex.
USA Today regularly invites anyone to vote in their 10 Best Readers’ Choice lists. Travel experts select 20 nominees in contests covering several topics – food, lodging, destinations, etc. – and let readers vote for the top ten choices. And, once again, Cody is poised to comfortably sit among the best.
The latest list is for the nation’s best history museums. Voting for the 2023 list ends at noon on Monday, Feb. 13.
“Whether you’re interested in American history, or millennia of human history, you can learn a lot about the past with a visit to one of these incredible history museums. Some have broad, encyclopedic collections, while others are specific to a certain historical moment,” the post reads.
Courtesy Buffalo Bill Center of the West
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is already in the top ten – but with enough support, it can truly be the best of the west.
As of Wednesday, Jan. 25, the Top Ten list for the nation’s Best History Museum is as follows:
- Cincinnati Museum Center – Cincinnati, Ohio
- Heinz History Museum – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- National Underground Railroad Freedom Center – Cincinnati, Ohio
- National Infantry Museum & Solider Center – Columbus, Georgia
- Museum of the American Revolution – Philidelphia, Pennsylvania
- The National WWII Museum – New Orleans, Louisiana
- Fruitlands Museum – Harvard, Massachusetts
- Buffalo Bill Center of the West – Cody, Wyoming
- 9/11 Memorial & Museum – New York, New York
- Maine Maritime Museum – Bath, Maine
Other potential top ten candidates include the Tenement Museum in New York, the Journey Museum in South Dakota, and the El Paso Museum of History in Texas.
While most other museums include a description of their central exhibits and artifacts, the Buffalo Bill Center stands alone for representing five museums under one roof.
“The Buffalo Bill Center of the West comprises five smaller museums, each covering a facet of the American West: the Draper National History Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, and Cody Firearms Museum,” the website reads.
Cody has consistently ranked among the top ten best small-town arts scenes, making the list in 2021 and 2022.
