Niche Museums

A 300,000 square foot working warehouse where you can see sculptors and artists making floats for parades in New Orleans and other cities, and explore a vast collection of floats from previous years.

Marion Held has been collecting devils for twenty years - novelty objects mainly from Europe, depicting the Devil, Krampus, Mephisto and more.

Marion assured us that there was nothing satanic about her collection: "These are European devils: they sit on your shoulder and they tell you to drink!"

Her collection is now available to see in her home - a converted church - by appointment only.

So you want to see a vast number of animal bones? This collection was established in 1898 but has exhibits that date back even earlier, including the skeleton of Louis XV's rhino which died at the hand of a revolutionary in 1793.

Opened April 19th 2016 to provide access to historic cartographic information in both paper and digital forms. An incredible collection of beautiful old maps.

Tiny museum dedicated to Madagascar's pirate history. The exhibits are in French but an English translated handout is available, which makes copious use of the word "booty".

London's best kept secret: a gallery of hand made satirical coin operated arcade machines built by Tim Hunkin. Enjoy a micro break holiday, launder money through the credit crisis, operate a personal nuclear reactor and spy on celebrities with a drone. Delightful.

Founded in 2011 by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, who claims to be a reincarnation of Buddha and is responsible for most of the art in the museum. Each piece is accompanied by a plaque which explains its artistic merit in effervescent terms.

More than 20,000 sets of salt and pepper shakers from around the world. Everything you can imagine has been captured in the form of a shaker. Highlights include NASA salt and pepper shakers and branded salt and pepper shakers from different airline first class flights.

Incredibly varied installation art located in a 1920s Mediterranean-style house. Visits by appointment only.

So many trains, some dating all the way back to 1862! Everyone loves trains. They also have historic carriages, including restored Pullman dining cars you can explore. One of the carriages is mounted on a motion simulator providing a delightfully mild rocking sensation.

Showcasing the artistry, history, and craft of bookbinding. The New York Times described it as "a small, obsessive collection of machinery and ephemera."

The only fully restored Cold War era Nike missile site in the country, hosting surface-to-air nuclear missiles for shooting down incoming Russian bomber planes! The first Saturday of the month is Veterans Open House, providing an opportunity to hear from the veteran missile techs who used to run these sites.

The Rosicrucians are "a community of mystics who study and practice the metaphysical laws governing the universe." Their Egyptian museum hosts the largest collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the Western United States, mostly collected from Egypt in the 1920s.

A working hydraulic model of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento to San Joaquin River Delta System, approximately the size of two football fields. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s to study the impact of proposed changes to the delta.

Locks, keys, locksmithing tools, safes and more.