Museums

One of thirty 1500 series engines that was built in 1923 for Frisco Railroad. Open year-round for tours by appointment and admission is free. Call 573-341-5488 to schedule a tour.

This structure was built of hand-hewn logs in 1857 and served as the county’s first courthouse. Today, it houses the Phelps County Museum operated by the Phelps County Historical society.

Used as a union hospital during the Civil War and served as the courthouse until February of 1994.

Minerals, rocks, fossils, mammoth tusks and maps, numerous historic item. The museum boasts a computer program that depicts earthquake occurrences.

The historic wooden footbridge over the BNSF Railway once carried motor vehicle traffic on Main Street. The Southwest Branch of the Pacific Railroad (now BNSF) reached Rolla in December 1860 and played an important role in the Civil War.

The jail was built in 1860 and was operated by Phelps County from 1860 to 1912. Union forces, which took over the town in 1861, used the jail for both military and civilian prisoners during the American Civil War.

With 3,500 specimens from around the world, the Missouri S&T Minerals Museum has Missouri’s largest university mineral collection.

Created in 1879, the USGS has evolved over the years, matching its knowledge to the progress of science and technology. Today, the USGS stands as the sole science agency for the Department of the Interior.