Unusual museums in Des Moines

Looking for unusual museums & collections in Des Moines? These 5 are the genuinely strange ones — Boone County Historical Society (former Masonic Temple), National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, Jasper County Historical Museum and more — each hand-vetted and sourced, not pulled from a top-ten list. Great for an unusual date, a weird afternoon, or showing a visitor the side of Des Moines they'd never find on their own.

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Boone County Historical Society (former Masonic Temple) The 1907 Champlin Memorial Masonic Temple — now the Boone History Center — is a legitimately operating county… Boone
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum This non-profit museum sits right beside the legendary Knoxville Raceway and puts 30-35 winged open-wheel spr… Knoxville
Jasper County Historical Museum Newton's Jasper County Historical Museum is a legitimately peculiar shrine to the appliance that built the to… Newton
Henry Moore's Mini-Americana Barn Museum Housed in an 1876 horse barn in South Amana, the Henry Moore Barn Museum holds over 200 hand-crafted miniatur… South Amana
Matchstick Marvels Museum Somewhere in a town of ~1,000 people on the Iowa prairie, a retired art teacher named Patrick Acton has been… Gladbrook (70 miles NE of Des Moines)