Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

The Cincinnati Museum Center is housed inside Union Terminal, a 1933 Art Deco train station widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in the United States. The soaring half-dome facade faces a grand forecourt, and the interior rotunda features dramatic murals and tilework that survived decades of neglect before a major restoration completed in 2018.

Inside the complex are three separate museums: the Cincinnati History Museum, the Museum of Natural History and Science (with a replica limestone cave you can walk through), and the Cincinnati Children's Museum. The building itself is the main event — see it before you decide which museum interests you. The Omnimax Theater, housed in the former train shed, shows science and nature films on a dome screen.

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A story
Union Terminal's half-dome rotunda is one of the finest Art Deco interiors in America, decorated with murals by Winold Reiss depicting Cincinnati's industrial history. The building opened in 1933 and fell into serious disrepair after train service ended in the 1970s. A $228 million restoration completed in 2018 brought back the original terrazzo floors, the mosaics, and the soaring entrance hall — a restoration that took 2,000 people five years to complete.