Indiana Medical History Museum

I'll start by saying you NEED TO BOOK A GUIDED TOUR IN ADVANCE! I knew this ahead of time, but some people may not, so I'm putting it here first! All tours are guided because the museum and building are almost entirely original and not reconstructions!!! It is somewhat of a morbid story- you can view cross-sections of brains with conditions and tumors, accompanied by stories of the people they were removed from, their symptoms, and how each individual was admitted to central state. The tour guides and employees are very friendly and helpful!!

Beautiful museum and the guide was very knowledgeable. I definitely recommend buying tickets in advance as the tour groups are kept small due to space. Photography is allowed, but no video or audio. Also, they won’t let you in until just before your tour time starts, so don’t get there too early.

This is an amazing piece of history and I'm so glad it has been preserved for us to visit. There are so many interesting things there and the guide had so many interesting stories. I only wish there was more time to look around at things and read all the information on our own.

This is an amazing piece of Indiana Medical history began to advance treatment diagnosis of mental illness from actual medical causes and to treat to heal vs. containing the mentally ill in asylums. Extremely advanced. I highly recommend. Tours on the hour. Best to book in advance Medical Herb Garden outside has a plethora of native plants used for medicinal purposes Plants In individual gardens ...one for breathing and the lungs,.another cardiovascular..I stayed in the gardens researched plants for 45 min!

An amazingly preserved building with so many original artifacts. I liked sitting in the teaching theater, reading the stories behind each of the brain specimens, peering around the autopsy room, and marveling at the beautiful wood and tile cabinets. Great guided tour - I just wished for more time to look around before going onto the next room. You get to go into almost every single room upstairs and downstairs!

This place was absolutely fascinating. Apparently, it's quite the hidden gem since no one that I talked to who lives in Indianapolis even knew it existed. I'm thankful that Google local guides gave it such glowing reviews. I'm going to add my glowing review as well. The tour guide I had was truly knowledgeable. He took extra time and was really great at answering questions. So much history has been remarkably well preserved. The architecture was very functional and they explain all of that to you. Some of it is pretty macabre, but my wife is a trauma nurse and said she could've spent another 10 to 20 hours in there, and way more if they'd actually let you read the books. The autopsy table, the death room, the lecture hall, the chemical production room, so much stuff they did back then is still in use today, it's just much easier to do now. There are brains and pieces of brains in jars, with the tumors and such clearly described. It was easy to get to, had plenty of parking, and even a garden of medicinal plants that have little tags by them explaining what they were used for. Appointments are required. There is a flight of stairs, and they are old stairs with at least one 90 degree turn in them, so probably not wheelchair friendly. This was definitely worth visiting and I'll go again next time I'm in town if I have enough time to spare. So worth it.

First of all, you need to make an appointment to tour this place. David, our tour guide and board member, was wonderful. Made my husband's and my experience exceptional. It was a very knowledgeable and one-of-a-kind experience. They also have a medicinal garden that explains what certain plants were used for back in the day.