Plimoth Patuxet Museums Designated #1 “Best Open-Air Museum” by USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards
Award Highlights Acclaimed Museum’s Leadership in Living History
Plymouth, Massachusetts (February 23, 2024) – Plimoth Patuxet Museums has been recognized as the “Best Open-Air Museum” in the United States by USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Nominated alongside 18 open-air museums chosen by a panel of experts including Colonial Williamsburg and Mystic Seaport, USA TODAY readers voted en masse to designate Plimoth Patuxet Museums as the winner.
"We’re truly honored to be nationally recognized as the Best Open Air Museum in the USA, and grateful to our enthusiastic community of members, teachers, visitors, donors – all the friends of the Museum – who voted to make this possible,” said Plimoth Patuxet Museums’ Executive Director Ellie Donovan. “This award demonstrates that our approach to public history resonates with our audiences as we continue to provide thought-stirring and engaging experiences of history for all who visit us in person or online.”
Since its founding more than 75 years ago, Plimoth Patuxet has welcomed millions of people through its doors and has been a global leader in the world of living history. The Museum’s exhibits, programs, and events continue to reflect a commitment to innovation and scholarship in telling the stories of the 17th century in all their complexity.
Generations of families, school children, and countless people from around the world have visited Plimoth Patuxet Museums to experience powerful personal encounters with history built on thorough research about the Indigenous and English people of the 1600s. At Plimoth Patuxet, visitors can explore four historic, heritage sites. Mayflower II enables guests to imagine the harrowing transatlantic journey of the people we know today as the Pilgrims in 1620. The 17th-Century English Village affords a glimpse into the worldview, faith, and lifeways of the Pilgrims. The Historic Patuxet Homesite provides an experience of the history, heritage, culture and lifeways of the Wampanoag and Indigenous peoples of this region. The Plimoth Grist Mill delves into the environment, and the agricultural and technological evolution of Plymouth Colony.
Plimoth Patuxet Museums is a centerpiece attraction in Plymouth, Massachusetts, a popular destination known for its rich history and culture shaped by stories of change and cultural persistence that unfolded on these shores in the 17th century which the Museum continues to share with the public.
About Plimoth Patuxet
Plimoth Patuxet is one of the Nation’s foremost living history museums. Founded in 1947, the Museum creates engaging experiences of history built on thorough research about the Indigenous and European people who met along Massachusetts' historic shores of change in the 1600s. Immersive and educational encounters underscore the collaborations as well as the cultural clash and conflicts of the 17th-century people of this region. Major exhibits include the Historic Patuxet Homesite, the 17th-Century English Village, Mayflower II, and Plimoth Grist Mill. A private, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational institution, Plimoth Patuxet is supported by admission fees, donations, memberships, and revenue from a variety of educational programming, dining and gift shops. Plimoth Patuxet receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, private foundations, corporations, and local businesses. Located less than an hour’s drive south of Boston, and 15 minutes north of Cape Cod, the Museum is open daily from early spring through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. For more information, visit plimoth.org. Follow the Museum on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.