the museum at central school

The Museum at Central School was an easy walk from Conrad Mansion which we visited first. Both museums open at 10am. There were tons of interesting displays here, though they don't permit you to take photos. There is considerable content about Kalispell and the early industries of the area including the railroads and logging. There were comprehensive exhibits on Montana pioneer, Frank Bird Linderman and about the Native American tribes that were indigenous to the Glacier Park and environs, and about the wildlife too. Loved the large old hand-carved saloon bar that was made in Ohio in 1894!The museum is very active and seems to be constantly expanding. We just missed by a few days, the opening of their History of the Flathead Valley exhibition which would have been great to see. We found unique postcards in the gift shop that we didn't see anywhere else and they also sell locally made items like soaps, body products, even artwork.We initially had second thoughts about visiting the Museum at Central School, thinking by its name that it may have been related to the district schools history. We also thought that it was still a functioning school, whereas it has been closed to students since 1997. However, we looked it up online and realised that it was in fact the main historical museum in Kalispell and so definitely worth a visit! We wonder whether the name may be detracting tourists like us from patronising the museum. We feel that a more suited name should include the name of the town, for example, The Kalispell Museum at the Historic Central School Building.

Wonderful place to go see some of of the history of Kalispell and Montana..Nice people will great you and help you find more to see around the area. They also reat rooms out for events. Just a great place!

If you have any time to spare in Kalispell, I highly recommend this museum if you have any interest in history, especially Native American culture. The building itself, the former Kalispell school, is a very well preserved example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture; it is really breathtaking. Inside, there is a large exhibit of Native American artifacts, as well as historic logging items. We spent over an hour looking around.

You will learn a lot about the area, and Montana in general, from visiting this museum. Not really for kids - but adults and teens will learn about logging, and the history of the area.

This little museum is very small but has an interesting collection of exhibits that show how the west was won in this corner of the continent. There was an exhibit on how the park trails on the eastern side of Flathead lake were constructed over a hundred years ago by horse and man.