Skip to Main Content

Washington, DC: Newseum (Closed)

RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report

Directions:
In the downtown museum district, on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and 6th St.
Hours:
Jan. 1, 2020: Closed
Status:
Closed

The Newseum.

Newseum

Whether you love it or hate it, the media deserves credit for building an impressive museum to itself.

Roadsideamerica.com Report... [11/01/2009]

Visitor Tips and News About Newseum

Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.

Newseum.

Newseum

We live in a time when everyone expects the metaphorically free press to be literally free, so people balked at paying to visit The Newseum, particularly in Washington, where it had to compete with a number of "free" (taxpayer funded) museums. It also didn't help that The Newseum went big, hi-tech, and glitzy, with an admission price to match. So, The Newseum has announced that it will be shutting its doors forever on December 31. Its vast collection of newsworthy items, including the Watergate burglary door and the Unabomber's grease-stained cabin, will go into storage for now. Perhaps in the future they will resurface in an attraction with a lower admission price.

[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 12/30/2019]

FBI exhibit.

Newseum

Years ago, visitors could tour FBI headquarters and see artifacts from its most famous cases. That ended on 9/11.

However, the exhibit was missed so much that it reopened in the Newseum in 2008 -- with the excuse that the FBI's most famous cases were also newsworthy. The exhibit was supposed to be temporary, but it proved so popular that it was extended indefinitely. Now, after several months of updating, the Newseum has expanded its FBI exhibit and reopened it on Nov. 13. Most of the good stuff from the original display has been kept, including the memorable Unabomber Cabin with its man-shaped grease stain where he slept.

Since 9/11 much of the FBI's efforts have been skewed toward domestic terrorism. The new items reflect that, and include:

  • Landing gear from one of the WTC 9/11 jets
  • A car driven to the airport by several of the 9/11 terrorists
  • The handcuffs slapped on the Boston Marathon bomber
  • An SUV, packed with explosives, that failed to blow up in Times Square
  • The explosive shoes of "shoe bomber" Richard Reid (They're the reason why everyone now has to remove their shoes before they fly).
[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 11/13/2015]
Newseum adds death car to its prestigious collection

The Newseum, a museum about journalists, has accepted the donation of a bomb-damaged car from the widow of the car's driver, investigative reporter Don Bolles. Organized crime figures, unhappy with stories Bolles wrote about them, paid a hit man to blow the newsman up in his car in 1976....

[02/08/2004] Complete News Story

Newseum Relocating

The Newseum, that PR effigy of a "free press," is relocating to bigger grounds, which certainly are not free. The Newseum will become the anchor tenant in a new $250mm retail, residential and conference center development in downtown Washington -- fitting since newspapers themselves exist mainly as a forum for retail and residential advertisements....

[07/30/2000] Complete News Story


Latest Tips Across Roadside America

Catch up on the latest discoveries from the road.

Explore Thousands of Oddball Tourist Attractions!

Unique destinations in the U.S. and Canada are our special obsession. Use our attraction recommendation and maps to plan your next road trip.

My Sights

My Sights on Roadside America

Create Your Own Bizarre Road Trips! ...Try My Sights

Mobile Apps

Roadside America app: iPhone, iPad Roadside America app for iPhone, iPad. On-route maps, 1,000s of photos, special research targets! ...More

Roadside Presidents app: iPhone, iPad Roadside Presidents app for iPhone, iPad. POTUS landmarks, oddities. ...More

DC Latest Tips and Stories

Latest Visitor Tips

Sight of the Week

Sight of the Week

Easter Island Moai in America (Mar 25-31, 2024)

SotW Archive

USA and Canada Tips and Stories

More Sightings