Joliet Area Historical Museum

The Museum of Science and Industry opened in 1933 and is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere and was the first museum in North America to allow visitors to touch and interact with its many exhibits. Located in Chicago s Hyde Park, and along the shore of Lake Michigan, the museum is the only remaining structure from the 1893 Columbian Exposition. It was designed as a temporary structure and the Exposition Palace of Fine Arts, housing art from around the world. Featured exhibits at the museum is the U-505 submarine, a authentic German submarine, captured during World War II; and The Coal Mine, a hands-on display of an Illinois coal mine that takes visitors 50 feet in a real hoist to the bottom of a mineshaft. The museum boasts 14 acres of hands-on fun and learning. More than 160 million guests have experienced cutting edge museum exhibits including The Great Train Story, AIDS, Genetics: Decoding Life and Networld.