The Cole County Historical Museum occupies the B. Gratz Brown House, an 1871 Italianate brick building a short walk from the Governor's Mansion. Brown was a Missouri governor and Ulysses S. Grant's running mate in the 1872 presidential election — a campaign they lost to Grant's own incumbent ticket after a Republican Party split, one of the stranger episodes in Missouri political history. The museum covers Cole County and Jefferson City history through documents, photographs, furniture, and artifacts from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The building itself is worth seeing for its architecture, which is better preserved than many historic structures this close to a busy state government district. The museum is small and can be seen in under an hour, but it adds useful context for anyone interested in the city's history beyond the Capitol and the penitentiary.