Keeping Our History Alive
Deanna Beineke
Museum Director & Curator
(859)572-1225
fortthomasmuseum@gmail.com
Our mission is to preserve, interpret, and celebrate the cultural and historical significance of our city and to educate the public on the importance of our community’s heritage. Admission to the museum is free, although donations are encouraged and gratefully accepted.
The Fort Thomas Military and Community Museum is located at 69 Veterans Way in Tower Park. The Museum will open for their 2023 season on April 7. Hours will be Friday through Saturday 12-4 pm and Sunday 1-5 pm.
Fort Thomas Museum
Private or Group Tours
We are open to the public only three days each week, but group and private tours can be arranged with prior notice. We suggest that group tours be limited to approximately 20 visitors, but Tower Park holds enough attraction that larger groups may be accommodated after consultation with museum and park staff. Student groups are welcome; we especially encourage Intermediate students and older.
A thorough tour of the museum generally takes about 2 hours. We are housed in a 110-year-old building that has steep, narrow stairs between the first and second floors. For more information or to arrange a tour, contact us at the information above. We would love to have you visit!
Time Capsule Treasures
Located on the grounds of one of the last military installations of its type in the US, we are the repository for the city’s collective memory. We are the display case for the souvenirs from times past. We are the scrapbook preserving the memories locked away in letters, photos and papers saved through the ages. We are the closet that holds those cast-offs that are too precious to really toss away.
Our collection spans nearly 150 years, from the District of the Highlands to the activation of Fort Thomas Military Reservation and its role in history, from rural farmland to thriving suburban community.
Military Collections
Artifacts in our military collections range from Union uniform jackets to Iraqi Freedom uniform socks. We have bits of scrap metal from the USS Maine, trench art from World War I, a Norden bomb sight from World War II, and a dog tag machine used to create ID tags for more than one generation.
We have enough uniforms to outfit a regiment – although most are too small to fit a soldier in the 21st century.
We have photos, letters and scrap books from the Spanish-American War to Vietnam.
Our collections are too large to showcase everything at once, so we select time periods and anniversaries to build new exhibits on a regular basis.