Matheson Museum Temporary Exhibits

Since its grand opening in 1994, the Matheson History Museum has been an integral part of our city’s cultural landscape, welcoming visitors from north central Florida and beyond. We strive to make the museum accessible and welcoming to all.

Located in the heart of downtown Gainesville, the Matheson History Museum is home to the 1867 Matheson House, permanent and temporary exhibits on Alachua County and Florida history, and a local history library and archives filled with resources for the researcher and the curious alike. Throughout the year we host a variety of programs on local and Florida history.

Going Back to Find Them: Remembering Victims of Racial Terror Lynching
Mary Ann Cofrin Exhibit Hall
Opens January 21, 2026
The Matheson will host the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project’s eight Remembrance Quilts in an exhibit that examines the role that injustice and violence had in our county’s history and the ways that our community moved towards reconciliation in the recent past. The quilts were made by Alachua County residents from various walks of life to remember and honor the 47 lives lost to racial violence in the 19th and 20th centuries in Alachua County.

The Alachua Phenomenon: Two Centuries in Florida’s Eden | Main Gallery
Alachua County, by modern standards, is characteristically un-Floridian. It has no beaches, it has no amusement parks, and it presently has no commercial citrus groves. And yet, today Alachua County is the beating heart of north central Florida. The Alachua Phenomenon will examine what made that happen over the last 200 years. In the process, the history of the county will unfold through an examination of the land, environment, agriculture, industry, education, and community. We invite you to join us and discover two centuries in Florida’s Eden.