Smaller, independent wax museums still exist in row houses and along main streets across the U.S. Each seeks to entertain, educate, and occasionally scare visitors with dusty dioramas depicting heroes, made-up monsters, or a region’s rich history.
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- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreThe National Great Blacks in Wax MuseumMuseumOpen10 AM – 5 PM
Founded by husband and wife educators in the early 1980s, the 17,500-square-foot National Great Blacks in Wax Museum now spans several refashioned row homes along East North Avenue in East Baltimore. With 150 figures currently on display, the museum illustrates the African American experience from its roots in Africa through slavery and into the present day.
- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreSalem Wax Museum & Salem Witch VillageMuseumOpen10 AM – 8 PM
The Salem Wax Museum features 50 London-made wax figures depicting scenes from the Massachusetts town’s notorious history. What the decades-old attraction lacks in technology and square footage, it more than makes up for in dioramas detailing the region’s rise as a strategic seaport. And, of course, the infamous witch trials, which took place in the late 1600s.
- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreThe John Brown Wax MuseumHistory MuseumPermanently Closed
Few historical figures have a wax museum exclusively devoted to telling their story (Jesus has several); the John Brown Wax Museum, located in a Harpers Ferry building that existed during Brown’s raid, contains 87 life-size figures in various displays depicting the controversial figure’s life and death. Open since 1963, the dimly-lit museum also features hand-painted signs, creaky wooden steps, and crude animatronics.
- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreHouse of Frankenstein Wax MuseumMuseumOpen11 AM – 4 PM
Featuring everything from classic literary tales and figures to modern-day pop culture icons Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, House of Frankenstein Wax Museum brings to life some of the most famous stories in the history of horror through dioramas and interactive displays. The multi-story attraction, located behind a spooky storefront in Lake George, New York, opened in 1974.
- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreLaclede's Landing Wax MuseumWax MuseumOpen11 AM – 8 PM
Located in a warehouse built in the 1800s, just steps from St. Louis’ Gateway Arch National Park, Laclede’s Landing Wax Museum is well worth the price of admission. With more than 250 life-size figures packed into several stories of a National Historic Landmark building, Laclede’s Landing has something for everyone. The basement is home to what was once a wax museum staple: the Chamber of Horrors.
- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreNiagara Wax Museum of HistoryHistory MuseumClosed Today
A sign in the Niagara Wax Museum of History’s entryway promises dozens of life size wax figures, including “explorers, pioneers, and statesmen prominent in the history of the frontier.” Visitors to the museum, which opened in 1968, may be surprised to also see Princess Diana, Julia Roberts, Mother Teresa, and other disparate celebrities (or close-ish approximations), each chosen for their sometimes tenuous connection to the region’s famous waterfalls.
