St. Louis Museums: River Discovery Center, formerly River Heritage Museum

117 S. Water Street
Paducah, Kentucky 42001
270-575-9958

Admission: Adults $8, Seniors $7, and Children $5. Free parking.

http://www.riverdiscoverycenter.org/

Founded 2003; renamed 2008

The River Discovery Museum was originally the River Heritage Museum and was developed to showcase the Four Rivers Region maritime heritage. In 2008 they added a number of interactive displays for participation by children, thus the River Discovery Museum.

It is located within the only surviving antebellum (before the war) building in Paducah's commercial district.

The building has served as a bank, a river front hotel, a hardware and provisions business, and a dealer in industrial supplies.

There are many boat models displayed representing the history of the river.

A model of a flatboat

This is certainly one of many interesting facts posted around the museum.

This display is about the importance of the rivers in the Civil War.

An entire room is devoted to the 1937 flood. 90% of Paducah was covered by the flood.

in the room there is a movie about the flood and a rain table.

In the museum there are also displays about the animal life of the river. This fossil is an example of animal life that lived in the water here 330-354 million years ago during the Mississippian Age. It was found nearby along the Cumberland River.

This shows the life-cycle of the freshwater mussel of the area rivers which mostly has been used to make pearl buttons, but also jewelry, pottery and utensils.

Aquatic Habitat Display

In 2008 when the museum was renamed River Discovery center, many hands on activities were added. In this one pushing a button brings up new information in the display.

This is a play area for young children.

Here you can help work the locks and dam and learn all about them.

Push a button and the paddle-wheel turns on this large model.

The boat simulator gives you lots of fun, unless of course, you crash the boat!

Here you have the option of lighting up all waterways on the map or certain water routes if you prefer.

When you enter the museum you are first greeted by this fun gift shop with lots of educational items for children.

Before visiting the museum we went to Kirschhoff's Bakery for lunch and for a few bakery treats.

and to the Ice Cream Factory for ice cream. It is right around the corner from the museum.

Comments: This was a fun little informative museum. Who knew there were three large rivers in the area of Paducah? Only the street and the flood-wall are between the museum and the Ohio River making it almost a riverfront museum. In the 44 hours we were in Paducah we saw three "paddle-boats" full of tourists come into the port as part of their many-days excursion on the rivers. The rivers are definitely an important part of Paducah's history and life today.

This would be a great museum for children to visit. It is a member of the Association of Science and Technology Center Museums and the Southeastern Museums with reciprocal and unlimited free admissions to all with membership in just one of the over 550 museums.

The museum offers a 17-minute film about the river and its importance. It is well done and I recommend watching it before going through the museum.

The gift shop was fun!

There are many restaurants within close walking distance. We chose Kirchhoff's Bakery which came highly recommended for lunch and it was indeed very popular. You placed your order at a counter and then returned for it when it was ready - there was some confusion with that. But all in all our food was good and the bakery items were excellent. And then around the corner was the wonderful ice cream store. Yummy!

Across from the museum is the Paducah Wall to Wall Murals. Paducah's rich history is captured in fifty life-sized paintings on the city's floodwall. These panoramic murals overlook the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. It is well worth walking the wall to see them all. Here are some of them.