Small Town Florida Museum Among the Top in America

Museums add a lot of culture and education to an area, including throughout the state of Florida. While some of the biggest and most high-profile museums are found in major cities throughout the world, there's something to be said for a great museum in a small town. These small town museums bring a unique attraction to their communities and often serve as a spot where locals can meet, socialize and learn. Small town museums are often much less crowded than their big city counterparts, too. One Florida museum has been named one of the best in America, so if you're looking to experience a true small town attraction, you may want to check it out.

The experts at USA Today have released their roster of the best small town museums in America, as part of their 10 Best series. This series has experts picking spots for which to vote, and then readers vote for their favorites. "Museums that focus on a small town or region can offer a unique perspective on the history, culture, and identity of a place, and they're often some of the most interesting spots to check out when you're traveling," USA Today notes.

The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center in St. Augustine, Florida, was named No. 9 on the tally. This special spot highlights more than 450 years of history, according to USA Today, and pays tribute to "the city’s Black history, from the Spanish colonial period to the Civil Rights era." The exhibits here "focus on illustrating what it was like to live in the Lincolnville neighborhood in the early 20th century, as well as how the lives of West African people were forever changed during the quest for enslaved workers." It's located at 102 M L King Avenue.

So, what was the first museum ever created? As it turns out, museums date back many centuries. The oldest spot that was believed to be a museum was Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum, dating from c. 530 BC. This museum showcased Mesopotamian antiquities. Ennigaldi-Nanna was "the priestess of the moon deity Sin," according to The Conversation, "and the daughter of the Neo-Babylonian king, Nabonidus."

"In 1925, archaeologist Leonard Woolley discovered a curious collection of artefacts while excavating a Babylonian palace," Museums of the World explains. "They were from many different times and places, and yet they were neatly organized and even labelled. Woolley had discovered the world’s first museum."

The Conversation adds that the items found by Woolley ranged in dates from roughly 2100 BCE to 600 BCE. "They included part of a statue of the famous early king, Shulgi of Ur, who ruled around 2058 BCE, a ceremonial mace-head made of stone, and some texts," The Conversation adds.