BIX MUSEUM NOW OPEN FULL-TIME!
One year ago the Bix Museum closed to begin the lengthy task of relocating to a new home. We are excited to announce that the Bix Museum is now open to the public! Join us in our new home at 112 W 2nd St, Davenport, IA 52801.
The museum is now open 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat, and by appointment Sunday. The museum’s first temporary exhibit, “Bix Lives: The Founding of a Movement,” detailing the history of the Bix Festival, is now on display!
The best way to learn about what is happening at the museum is to check these pages, follow our Facebook page, or call us at 563-293-4046. The voicemail message at that number is updated regularly with any necessary schedule changes.
HAVE A LOOK AT THE PROCESS OF MOVING THE MUSEUM!
We encourage guests to make appointments to visit outside of our hours if they do not fit your schedule. To make an appointment, please get in touch with us at least one day in advance of your visit. You can schedule an appointment by emailing us at director@bixmuseum.org or calling/texting 563-293-4046 and leaving a message.
The Bix Museum also offers small group or individual guided tours of the museum upon request, especially on select Saturdays. Contact Director Nathaniel Kraft at director@bixmuseum.org to schedule a tour today.
Since our museum is staffed part-time, we are always looking for volunteers to help keep the museum open during regular business hours. Occasionally, the museum may not be staffed during times when volunteers are unavailable. If you are considering a visit and the doors are closed or want to check ahead of time, please call or email (563) 293-4046 or contactbixmuseum@gmail.com.
If you would like to volunteer at the museum, visit our volunteer page to find out how by clicking the button below:
Bix Lives in the Bix Beiderbecke Museum!
Try Our Guided Tours!
Our guided tours apps are live. Use them online or download the “Bix Beiderbecke Museum Tours” from your preferred app store. You can use the tours while you visit sites in Davenport, including the museum, OR while you take the virtual tours online from where ever you are. Tour Bix’s Hometown, Davenport, via audio and visual experiences highlighting the locations where Bix grew up, played music, and hung out. You can also
tour our previous museum sections and exhibits.
VISIT!
Beyond a century, the music of legendary cornetist, pianist, and composer Bix Beiderbecke still draws awestruck admiration from fans around the world. Treasured recordings keep alive his unique tone, melodic style, lyrical phrasing, and heart-stopping improvisations.
The museum, in Bix's hometown—Davenport, Iowa—is a must-stop for jazz and history lovers. Visitors will learn of his brief but eventful life at the dawn of the 20th century, view rare films, and listen to his incomparable music.
The museum formerly graced the lower level of the Redstone building, 2nd and Main Streets, in downtown Davenport. The museum is now housed at 112 West Second Street in downtown Davenport.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment, and Sundays by appointment.
The new museum charges nominal admission fees and donations are gratefully accepted.
Sights and sounds include unique artifacts, rare photos, storyboards, touchscreens, videos, home movie clips, heartwarming letters and, of course, magnificent recordings.
Discover more things to do in Davenport.
Support the Museum Today
Your donation ensures Bix Lives!
Become a Member
Memberships provide many benefits and help keep the museum running.
Join our Newsletter!
See it and sign up for it here. New one goes out the beginning of each month.
The last piano Bix played in his New York City apartment where he died. This was the only piano that Bix ever purchased. He bought it shortly before his death in 1931.
Audiences adored Bix and the energy of the Wolverines in their first New York City performances in 1924.
News and Reviews
The Cities with Jim Mertens | The Bix Beiderbecke Museum & Food Banks in Iowa | The Cities | Season 15 | Episode 30 | WQPT PBS
Bix Beiderbecke Museum to leave Redstone basement, reopen at street-level (5-23-25)
A new chapter for a cultural gem, The Bix Beiderbecke Museum & Archives (5-23-25)
Bix Beiderbecke Museum announces relocation timeline (5-15-25)
Bix Beiderbecke Museum Plans to Move to a New Home Across the Street in Downtown Davenport (12-24-25)
Life in a New Key: Davenport's Bix Museum to Move Across the Street (11/24/24)
Bix Beiderbecke Museum and Archives moving to new downtown Davenport location (11/24/24)
23 Best Things to do in Davenport, Iowa (9/24/24)
Celebrate a big Bix weekend in QC (3/7/24)
Bix Birthday Bash to celebrate 100 years of Beiderbecke music on Sunday (3/8/24)
Bix birthday bash celebrates Quad City jazz legend (3/6/24)
Beloved Davenport woman loved, lived and breathed Bix (12/28/22 + 7/27/23)
The real Kings of Queens: Searching for Bix and Louis (9/19/22 + 11/30/22)
'So far ahead of anyone else': The life and legacy of Bix Beiderbecke (7/24/21)
Bix Beiderbecke Museum Bestows Two New Bix Lives Awardsc (10/13/20)
Making Bix More Accessible—Archives digitize audio recordings (7/24/20)
The Cities- Bix Beiderbecke Museum
Bix Museum Acquires Don Murray’s Sax (3/5/2020)
Bix Museum Hires First Director (1/30/20)
WHBF-TV: Hundreds visit (1/6/18 + 1/7/18)
Visitor's journal: A treasure! (9/2/17)
Syncopated Times: Every Bix devotee should make a pilgrimage (9/1/17)