3 Massachusetts museums ranked among the country's best by USA Today
USA Today recently released its rankings of the best museums around the country, and several from Massachusetts and New England made the list.
The categories voted on by readers include best science museum, best history museum, best free museum and more. Massachusetts museums appeared on the lists for best open-air museum and best small town museum.
Plimoth Patuxet Museums
Plimoth Patuxet Museums in Plymouth, Massachusetts was named the best open-air museum in the country.
Previously known as Plimoth Plantation, the museum replicates the first colonial settlement in New England and spotlights the Wampanoag people.
"Visitors can immerse themselves in living history while interacting with interpreters who portray Pilgrims at the 17th-century English Village," USA Today writes.
The museum opens for the season on March 14. Tickets for Plimoth Patuxet are $35 for adults and $20 for children.
Old Sturbridge Village
Old Sturbridge Village in central Massachusetts is third on the open-air museum ranking. One of the oldest and largest living history museums in the country, it documents New England living between 1790 and 1840.
"This picturesque and expansive outdoor museum offers an engaging view of early American rural life," the newspaper says.
Tickets are $27 for adults and $12 for kids when bought online.
Concord Museum
As America celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, there's no better place to learn about the history of the Revolutionary War than the Concord Museum in Concord, Massachusetts, which is No. 2 on the newspaper's list of the best small town museums.
The museum says it boasts "one of the largest and most significant collections of objects related to April 19, 1775, the day before the American Revolution began," including the original lantern used by Paul Revere during his famous Midnight Ride.
Concord Museum tickets are $16 for adults and $8 for kids.
New England is also home to some of the best maritime museums in the country, USA Today said, with Connecticut's Mystic Seaport Museum ranked No. 3 and the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath taking the top spot.
