The Hill Aerospace Museum is one of the premier attractions in Utah and is located on the northwest corner of Hill Air Force Base, Utah, about five miles south of Ogden. The Air Force base museum was founded in 1982 as part of the United States Air Force Heritage Program and first opened to the public in 1987. It moved to its current facility in 1991, where it annually welcomes around 350,000 visitors, coming from every state and many foreign countries.
If you are looking for attractions in Utah, the Museum exhibits more than 90 military aircraft, missiles, and aerospace vehicles on the grounds and inside the Major General Rex A. Hadley Gallery and the Lindquist Stewart Fighter Gallery. Our collection includes a wide variety of ordinance and munitions, an assortment of aerospace ground equipment, military vehicles, uniforms, and thousands of other historical artifacts.
As one of the premier attractions in Utah, as well as a field museum of the United States Air Force Museum System,the Mission of the Hill Aerospace Museum is to Educate and inspire all ages through history, with a focus on the United States Air Force, Hill Air Force Base, Utah Aviation, and unique learning experiences.
Our mission is to educate and inspire all ages through the promotion and preservation of US Air Force, Hill Air Force Base and Utah aviation history.
With the support of Museum Staff, the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah, and Air Force Material Command History Office, the Hill Aerospace Museum has a clear vision—to serve as the premier Air Force Field Museum—leading the way for others to follow! Driving this vision are our aspirations to increase public and governmental interest in aviation, support a robust and diverse visitor base, maintain responsible and ethical collection management practices, and improve educational elements for all ages—ultimately inspiring the Airmen of tomorrow by turning curious visitors into patrons of aviation! To meet these objectives, we envision the expansion and enhancement of our facilities/grounds to house the majority of the collection, the transformation of our storyline and artifact exhibition to educate the public on our focused mission, improvement of staff and artifact care, and execution of unique educational experiences. To meet these goals, several strategic initiatives must occur in several programs across our institution.
Hill Aerospace Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.
Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, approximately 1,070 are accredited. Hill Aerospace Museum is one of only six museums accredited in Utah.
Hill AFB opened its first museum on 6 April 1946, displaying World War II weapons and equipment, and closed it a year later
Hill AFB open its second museum on 26 March 1950, displaying World War II weapons and equipment, and closed it three years later
The Secretary of the Air Force initiated the Air Force Heritage Program
Hill AFB became involved in the Air Force Heritage Program
Members of the community founded the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah—a private, nonprofit organization—to fundraise and support the planned Hill AFB museum
On 27 January 1984, Maj Gen Marc Reynolds, Ogden Air Logistics Center commander, hosted the initial “Kickoff” For Hill AFB’s new museum
By 1987, Hill AFB had the “Heritage Museum and Aerospace Park,” which operated on the current museum grounds; utilized what is now the restoration facility (Bldg. 1919) as the museum; and featured 26 aircraft, 5 missiles, and several artifacts
Through Foundation lobbying efforts, the State of Utah provided $5M for the construction of a new facility (administrative and Hadley Gallery) in 1988—with the new structure gifted in 1991 and titled the Hill Aerospace Museum
The Air Force dedicated the second facility (Lindquist-Stewart Gallery), a contribution made possible through the supporting Foundation
Through efforts of the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah, the 90,000 square foot L.S. Skaggs Gallery was dedicated. The State of Utah, The ALSAM Foundation, Weber County RAMP, America First Credit Union, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation and others contributed more than 20 million dollars to make this dream become reality.