# The Best Museums & History in Door County _Updated July 2026 · https://www.doorcountyguide.com/best/museums/_ > The Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay is our top pick — climb its lighthouse tower for the best view of the working shipyard, then tour a retired tugboat. The Miller Art Museum (free) holds the county's fine-art collection, The Farm is the best stop with kids, and Björklunden's hand-painted stave chapel in Baileys Harbor is the most unexpected. Several are free, and hours run seasonal, so check before you go. Door County's history is maritime, agricultural, and Scandinavian, and its museums split neatly along those lines — a shipbuilding museum, heritage farms, a fine-art collection, and a couple of genuinely surprising Norwegian landmarks. Several are free. These are the ones worth your time. A few things worth knowing: 1. **Sturgeon Bay is the hub.** The Maritime Museum, Miller Art Museum, and Door County Historical Museum are all within a few blocks — an easy rainy-day cluster. 2. **Several are free.** Miller, the Historical Museum, and the Ephraim Historical Foundation sites don't charge admission. 3. **Most keep seasonal hours.** The Maritime and Miller museums run year-round; the rest are warmer-months stops, so check before a special trip. ## 1. Door County Maritime Museum — Best overall *Sturgeon Bay · $$* Sturgeon Bay is a shipbuilding town, and this is the museum that explains why. Climb the lighthouse tower first — the view over the working shipyard tells the story better than any exhibit — then tour a retired tugboat tied up outside. It's the county's flagship museum and the one to prioritize if you see only one. Open year-round. [Full details](https://www.doorcountyguide.com/places/door-county-maritime-museum/) ## 2. Miller Art Museum — Best art museum *Sturgeon Bay* Door County's fine-art museum, free to walk through, tucked inside the Sturgeon Bay library. It holds the largest collection anywhere of Gerhard Miller, the county's most celebrated painter, and rotates contemporary shows the rest of the year. A quiet, no-cost hour — and a genuinely good rainy-day plan. Closed Sundays and for January changeovers. [Full details](https://www.doorcountyguide.com/places/miller-art-museum/) ## 3. The Farm — Best with kids *Sturgeon Bay* A living museum of rural America north of Sturgeon Bay, and the surest bet in the county with small kids: bottle-feed goat kids and lambs, watch chicks hatch, and wander pioneer log buildings and nature trails. Plan on a couple of hours; it earns them. Open daily from about Memorial Day weekend through mid-October. [Full details](https://www.doorcountyguide.com/places/the-farm-door-county/) ## 4. Björklunden (Boynton Chapel) — Most unexpected *Baileys Harbor* The most surprising thing on this list: a hand-built stave-style chapel on a Lawrence University lakeshore estate in Baileys Harbor, modeled on a Norwegian stavkirke and painted inside with 41 frescoes. Public tours run just a couple of afternoons a week in summer, for a few dollars — worth planning around. Chapel tours are summer-only and limited-day, so check the schedule. [Full details](https://www.doorcountyguide.com/places/bjorklunden/) ## 5. Ephraim Historical Foundation — Best village history *Ephraim* The keeper of historic Ephraim, running several original 19th-century buildings you can walk through — the Anderson Store, a one-room schoolhouse, the Goodletson cabin. Admission is free. It folds easily into a stroll through one of the prettiest villages on the peninsula. Sites open roughly late May through mid-October. [Full details](https://www.doorcountyguide.com/places/ephraim-historical-foundation/) ## 6. Door County Historical Museum — Best free local history *Sturgeon Bay* A free, easy county-history museum a few blocks from the Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay — vintage firefighting rigs, a recreated old-time street, and the peninsula's stories, well-told and kid-friendly. A good pairing with the Maritime Museum on a Sturgeon Bay afternoon. Open Tuesday through Saturday most of the year, fewer days in winter. [Full details](https://www.doorcountyguide.com/places/door-county-historical-museum/) ## 7. Washington Island Farm Museum — Best island stop *Washington Island* Reason enough to wander inland once you've taken the ferry: an open-air heritage museum with nine buildings — a log cabin, a blacksmith shop, a sawmill — and modest admission. Come on a July Wednesday for craft demonstrations and free wagon rides. Open daily from about mid-May through Columbus Day. [Full details](https://www.doorcountyguide.com/places/washington-island-farm-museum/) Two more worth a stop: the **Stavkirke** on Washington Island, a hand-built replica of a Norwegian stave church, and **Cana Island Lighthouse** near Baileys Harbor — run by the Maritime Museum, with a 97-step tower climb across a causeway. ### A few tips from us - **Start with the free ones** if you're watching the budget — Miller Art Museum and the Historical Museum are both no-charge and a few blocks apart. - **The year-round pair** (Maritime and Miller) are your winter fallback when everything else has closed. - **The Farm is the kids' pick** — animals to feed and room to roam, an easy couple of hours. Planning the rest of the day? See our [things to do](/things-to-do/) and [best-of lists](/best/).