Hawaii Museums and Culture

Helicopters, tanks, guns now silenced, and vacant bunkers welcome you to the U.S. Army Museum of Hawai'i. Once a bastion built to protect Hawai'i from invading forces, the structure now houses a Museum that tells the military story of Hawai'i, from ancient times to the Gulf War and the War in Iraq. Each of these hostilities is covered graphically in separate displays with photographs and sound effect creating a real "you were there" experience.

The Mission Houses Museum, a National Historic Landmark, is the primary program of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society, a non-profit educational institution and genealogical society. The Museum interprets the "missionary period" of Hawaiian history, 1820-1863, which is fundamental to an understanding of contemporary Hawaii.

The only museum in the state of Hawaii devoted exclusively to contemporary art. TCM provides an accessible forum for provocative, dynamic forms of visual art, offering interaction with art and artists in a unique Island environment. TCM presents its innovative exhibition and educational programs at two venues: in residential Honolulu at the historic Cooke-Spalding house, and downtown at First Hawaiian Center.

USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park's mission is to restore and preserve the World War II submarine USS Bowfin (SS-287), and submarine-related artifacts on our grounds and in the Museum. Bowfin Park's parent organization, the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association (PFSMA), is a non-profit group that receives no state or federal funding.

Located next to Hawaii's largest working sugar factory in the historic plantation town of Puunene, Maui, the award-winning Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum is a marvelous repository of information and exhibits about one of the most significant and influential periods in Maui's history. Dedicated to preserving and presenting the history and heritage of Maui's sugar industry, the 1,800-square-foot Museum not only charts the establishment and growth of the industry, but looks at sugar's influence on the development of Maui's water resources and rich multi-ethnic make-up, and features intriguing displays on the inner workings of a sugar mill.

The goal of the Pacific Tsunami Museum is to promote public tsunami education for the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Region. The museum will also preserve the social and cultural history of Hawaii and promote economic development on the island of Hawaii as well as statewide. The museum will serve as a living memorial to those who lost their lives in past tsunami events.

Step back into the 1800s at this restored homestead, where David and Sarah Lyman settled as missionaries in 1839. Their descendants opened the museum nearly a century later, transforming the property into a window onto 19th-century life. The original Mission House now sits on both State and National historic registers, accessible through guided tours that reveal period details and furnishings—particularly atmospheric on cooler winter days when the rooms feel lived-in and intimate. Next door, the museum building itself showcases an impressive array of Hawaiian artifacts, artwork, and specimens spanning natural history. You'll find rotating exhibitions, a research archive, and a thoughtfully curated shop alongside the permanent collections. Walking both buildings gives visitors an uncommonly layered perspective: how people actually inhabited these islands generations ago, what's unfolding in Hawaiian culture right now, and where the islands are headed. It's the kind of experience that stays with you long after you leave.