Watkins Community Museum of History

The Watkins Community Museum of History, created by the Douglas County Historical Society, explains local history through its exhibits, lectures, tours, and other events. Two of the more interesting exhibits tell the stories of Langston Hughes, an African American poet who grew up in Lawrence early in the twentieth century and became nationally distinguished, and James Naismith, a Canadian by birth who invented the game of basketball and was KU's first basketball coach (1898–1907).

The museum building was commissioned by Lawrence financier J.B. Watkins to house the Land Mortgage Company & Watkins National Bank, and constructed between 1885 and 1888. After renovation and restoration to the bank's original beauty, the Watkins Museum opened at this location in 1975.