Located in White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis, the Indiana State Museum serves as the state’s leading museum of science, art, culture, and history, presenting Indiana’s story from prehistoric life to the present. Its collection began in 1862 with State Librarian R. Deloss Brown’s cabinet of curiosities and later expanded from geology and natural history to cultural materials, including Civil War objects. After decades in the Indiana Statehouse and later Indianapolis City Hall, the museum opened its present home in 2002. With more than 500,000 objects, it preserves major strengths in archaeology, paleontology, industry, art, and statewide historical collections.