Seward Community Library & Museum
Seward Community Library & Museum
4.5
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
The Seward Community Library & Museum, a nonprofit department of the City of Seward, is a unique combined public library, local history museum, archives and community center. We offer free 24/7 WiFi, public access computers, many public services, meeting rooms, and spaces for people to read, play and learn. Winter Library Hours: Tues-Sat, 11am-8pm. Winter Museum Hours: Fri-Sat, Noon-5pm, free winter admission. Summer Hours: Mid-May to mid-Sept. Summer Library Hours: Opens at 10am. Summer Museum Hours: Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm with $4 admission for ages 13+. Summer Movie@2 Program: Iditarod National Historic Trail: A History and Waves Over Seward, Tues-Sat, 2-3pm, $4 suggested donation. Lost photo IDs, keys, cell phones, computers and devices will be turned into the Seward Police Dispatch after closing.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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4.5
109 reviews
Excellent
51
Very good
48
Average
9
Poor
1
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0
LBTraveler0
Long Beach, CA104 contributions
Jul 2014 • Solo
The film about the great 1964 9.2 earthquake. As a resident of Southern California, we take our earthquakes seriously, and the original 8mm film footage taken of this event is singularly worth the trip. They advertise that the film is played at 2:00 pm, but when I arrived after 3:00pm, the librarian was happy to start it for me then. As I left, she was starting it again for others who had arrived part-way through my viewing. It shares space with the Library, and it's worth seeing.
Written 2 August 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
calgaryjetgirl
Calgary, Canada33 contributions
Jun 2013 • Couples
Small museum packed with information on Seward and its history. It won't take you long to see and read everything but boy will you come away knowing a lot about a really great town. It is in the library so easy to find and accomodating hours. Low cost to get in. Displays are well done with some great donations for authentic Seward items. Really enjoyed this attraction,
Written 21 July 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lynda C
Kennesaw, GA25 contributions
Aug 2013
The day we drove to Seward from anchorage was raining but the drive is beautiful! The museum seemed the perfect place to go. It was VERY interesting. Great history and thing's to look thru. The staff are awesome!
Written 22 May 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Suzie623
Seward, NE173 contributions
Aug 2013 • Couples
We just happened to get referred to this museum by the Seward Chamber. We were told that the Museum was celebrating it's 110th anniversary. We decided to stop by to check it out. The museum also had dignitaries visiting from their sister city in Japan for the celebration. The exhibits were very nice. We especially enjoyed the ones from Seward, NE (we are from Nebraska). The staff was very friendly also.
Written 10 September 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeff M
Fayetteville, AR19 contributions
May 2013 • Friends
This museum was recently moved to the city library. It was quiet and had a good amount of information about Seward. We watched videos on the 1964 earthquake disaster for about 20 minutes. Some of the contents in the museum lacked description, so it almost seemed like some of the items were just donated antiques. Admission was $5.
Written 13 July 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Robert D
Brooklyn, New York4,458 contributions
Jul 2021
This museum is worth a visit. The exhibits focus on the community and are informative. Every afternoon at 2 p.m., you can watch two 25-minute movies in the community room--Iditarod National Historic Trail: A History and Waves Over Seward. The first is about the Iditarod Trail, which starts in Seward, and the second is about the tsunami from the great 1964 Earthquake.
Written 8 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris M
PLANT CITY7 contributions
Jun 2018 • Friends
Interesting films on Seward , amazing that anyone was still around to tell the tale! All visitors should take a few minutes to see.
Written 6 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stacie M
Charlotte, NC50 contributions
Aug 2017 • Couples
Enjoyed seeing and reading about the history of Seward. You can spend as much as three hours here if you want to peruse through their history books. Comfortable place, good value.
Written 6 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vermonters210
Bennington, VT209 contributions
Jun 2017 • Couples
The building that the Seward Library and Museum are located in is a pretty cool building with colorful, reflective metal on the outside. The library is on the floor above the museum. There is a small fee ($4 or $5 per adult) to enter the museum. It's a pretty funky, eclectic place with all kinds of displays about the area, its settlers, the Iditarod, the 1964 epic earthquake, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, and especially the characters that have lived here. We were especially interested in learning more about the 1964 earthquake and massive tsunamis that destroyed much of this area. There is a touch-screen TV with rocking chairs in front of it and about 10 short videos about this 9.2 magnitude earthquake (and the science of earthquakes and tsunamis) - the most powerful quake ever in the USA and second most powerful ever recorded. We watched all of them. On a table opposite the TV are huge binders with many articles about the devastating event. After a day of hiking in the area, it was an interesting and welcome respite to stroll and sit in this fine little museum. There is a tiny gift shop here too and a visitor log. Bathrooms are down the hall outside the museum.
Written 2 July 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cindy M
Colorado Springs, CO286 contributions
Aug 2016 • Couples
This little museum id a great place to visit on a rainy morning. They open at 10 am (Summer hours). It has nice displays on the early days of Seward, but the most interesting was the video display about first hand accounts of the big earthquake in 1964. Very well done. It's only $5.00 to get in, but CASH only, no credit cards. It's located inside the Public Library which provides free wifi.
Written 18 August 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Just wondering how long the film about the earthquake is? Tks
Written 3 February 2019
Seward L
Seward, Alaska
Hello,
The Waves Over Seward film is 25 minutes. We will be showing it after a 25 minute film about the Iditarod Trail in the summer with our Movie@2 program, daily at 2-3pm when we are open, mid-May through mid-September. Visit our website for more information.
Written 11 February 2019
Can we pre-pay for the museum? how long of a walk is it from the best western plus edgewater hotel?
Written 16 June 2016
It's a 1/10 of a mile walk from the Edgewater to the museum. My map program says 2 minutes. I don't know if you can prepay for the museum, but can't imagine why you'd want to.
Written 16 June 2016
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