NC Museum of Natural Sciences Again Leads NC Museums & Historic Attractions Survey

07/03/2016 13:38

MATTHEWS, N.C., March 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences again ranks as the State's most visited historic attraction.

The Museum also led the survey in 2012.

During 2015 the Museum reported 985,905 guests. Fort Fisher in Kure Beach again ranked second most visited attraction with 890,593 visitors.

"The number of quality historic attractions and museums that are spread from one end of North Carolina to the other is amazing," said Sam Rogers, president of Carolina Publishing and Associates of Matthews, which compiles the survey. "Very few states have such a large inventory of visitor attractions, which is why North Carolina's tourism industry continues to thrive."

The 2015 survey is the 12^th annual ranking. Biltmore, located in Asheville, no longer reports attendance totals, and are not included in the survey.

Fort Macon in Atlantic Beach ranked third in the annual survey with 732,198 visitors. Rounding out the top five were Charlotte's Discovery Place with 729,951 and the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro with 680,908.

Marble Kids Museum in Raleigh finished sixth in the survey with 671,493 followed by 7. North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, 506,811, 8. Museum of Life and Science, Durham 492,519, 9. Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, 446,591 and 10. North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville, 446,392.

Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Art was the 11^th most visited attraction with 456.575 guests followed by 12. North Carolina Aquarium, Fort Fisher, 442,866, 13. Greensboro Science Center, Greensboro, 378,445, 14. North Carolina Aquarium, Pine Knoll Shores, 375,681, 15. North Carolina Maritime Museums, Beaufort, Southport, Hatteras, 340,303, 16. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, 289,885, 17. Chimney Rock State Park, Chimney Rock, 261,177, 18. Grandfather Mountain, Linville, 260,000 and 19.Tryon Place State Historic Site, New Bern 249,247 and 20. Battleship North Carolina, Wilmington 211,313.

21. Old Salem Museums and Gardens, Winston Salem, 192,477, 22. Jeannette's Pier, Nags Head, 189,538, 23. Linville Caverns, Marion, 176,079, 24. Cherokee Cultural Heritage Attractions, Cherokee, 170,476, 25. NASCAR Hall of Fame, Charlotte 166,559, 26. Morehead Planetarium, Chapel Hill, 159,321, 27. The Mint Museums, Charlotte, 132,198, 28. Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, Belmont, 118,687, 29. North Carolina Transportation Museum, Spencer, 100,076 and 30. SciWorks, Winston-Salem, 95,623.

In addition to the annual survey, Carolina Publishing and Associates publishes Carolina Field Trips Magazine and the Carolina Heritage Guide.