Visitors entering the National World War I Museum’s Main Gallery cross the Paul Sunderland Glass Bridge, suspended over a symbolic poppy field. Nine thousand poppies, each representing 1,000 dead, are a reminder of the nine million military dead during the Great War (Photo: National World War I Museum & Memorial)

Visitor numbers at US National World War I Museum hit another record

Visitor numbers have broken records at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third year in a row.

More than 300,000 people passed through its doors in 2016, beating the previous high of 280,000 set in 2015.

The museum drew visitors from all 50 US states and more than 70 other countries last year as it held a series of special exhibitions, events and lectures to mark significant episodes of the First World War.

A significant expansion of gallery space is planned during the Centennial, as Centenary News reported in June 2016

“We are grateful to be in a position to announce an attendance record for the third consecutive year,” said National World War I Museum and Memorial President and CEO Dr Matthew Naylor.

“The continued flow of visitors to the museum from across the world is yet another affirmation of the importance of commemorating the centennial of the Great War.”

Current special exhibitions are focussing on the Eastern Front (Wacht im Osten: German Encounters with the East in World War I) and the Battles of Verdun and the Somme (They Shall Not Pass/1916).

Information & images supplied by National World War I Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri

Posted by: CN Editorial Team