Grand Rapids Public Museum

Founded in 1854 as the Grand Rapids Lyceum of Natural History, this institution has spent nearly 170 years accumulating the evidence of West Michigan — over 250,000 artifacts and specimens, from Hopewellian burial mounds to the industrial furniture economy that built the city. In 1971, it became the first U.S. museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, a distinction held today by roughly 3% of institutions nationwide. The Van Andel Museum Center on the Grand River's west bank is the main address, with the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium inside — named for the Apollo I astronaut who grew up here.