About the museum

The William Clark Market House Museum is open to the public, both locals and visitors alike. Large groups can explore the museum, however, in the mornings by setting up an appointment in advance. Tours for groups during the daytime hours are also available at the William Clark Market House Museum.  Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. The Museum is closed holiday weekends, including Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving Day.  The facility is also closed for election day. The Museum is closed from December 15 till the first Saturday in March, to prepare new exhibits,  do routine cleaning, and perform needed maintenance.

Guests visiting the William Clark Market House Museum have a opportunity to take a look at the past days of Paducah. Articles and objects from throughout the history of Paducah are on display within the historic Market House from the year 1905. Such items include a life-like statue of the famous Henry Clay, as well as the ornate and intricate gingerbread woodwork  interior of the 1877 Paducah List Drug Store that is well over a century old. You can also see the beautiful stained glass windows from the same drugstore, stored in a forgotten shed by the drugstore owner, and found after ninety two years, and they were retrieved just twenty minutes before a bulldozer arrived to knock the shed down.  This is one example of the unbelievable exhibits our patrons can experience.

Paducah’s Market House Theater and the Yeiser Art Center are housed inside the same historic building that houses the William Clark Market House as well. This building is more than one hundred years old, and was formerly the public market of Paducah, Kentucky, which is why the museum is named as it is. The Market House Museum is located in the building’s tallest central section. Yellow signs guide visitors to the various displays within the museum.

The Interactive Timeline at the William Clark Market House Museum provides visitors with a chronological look at the history of Paducah, from the time of settlers who constructed the first framed buildings up through the first show of the American Quilter’s Association. The Historical Archives Photo Gallery immerses guests within the most recent digital scans of photographs from the museum’s archives of historical photographs, offering a unique glimpse into the past of the town of Paducah. The museum’s Historical Articles provide information about the lives and accomplishments of several of the town’s most famous residents.