Built as a passenger railroad station in the early 1930s, the art deco Union Terminal is now home to the Cincinnati Museum Center, which provides space for six organizations including the Cincinnati History Museum, the Museum of Natural History & Science, the Duke Energy Children's Museum, a library, and an Omnimax theater.
In addition to the museums, visitors can tour the terminal itself, which features the amazing mosaic murals of German-born artist Winold Reiss. Commissioned in 1932, Reiss created twenty mosaics depicting the history of Cincinnati and its local industries. The Center also provides some outstanding educational programs, most notably two archeological digs that invite adults and teens to participate in week-long excavation sessions where they'll learn the basics of paleontology, geology, extraction, and preservation.
The Dig for Dinosaurs involves fossil excavation in the Bighorn Mountains of Montana, while the Freedom Dig entails work at the historic home of John P. Parker, famous escaped slave and successful conductor on the Underground Railroad. Tours, concerts, lectures, and workshops round out the Center's offerings.
