3 Best Sights in Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos Islands

In one of the island's oldest stone buildings, the National Museum houses several interactive exhibits, as well as a super little gift shop with books and local handicrafts. The complete collection of preserved artifacts raised from the noteworthy Molasses Reef Wreck is here. Dating back to the early 1500s, it's the earliest European shipwreck yet excavated in the New World. There is also a natural-history exhibit including artifacts left by the Taíno (or Lucayans), the earliest migrants to settle in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The museum also has a 3D coral reef exhibit that complements its presentation on the history of diving. Another gallery is dedicated to Grand Turk's involvement in the Space Race. John Glenn made landfall here after being the first American to orbit Earth. Locals are quite put out that the movie Hidden Figures inaccurately portrayed the landing as having taken place in the Bahamas just north of Turks and Caicos. A fascinating display is a collection of “messages in a bottle” that have washed ashore from all over the world. This is the perfect spot to start your walking tour of the historic waterfront.

This stone prison was built in the 1830s to incarcerate men and women who had committed mostly petty crimes. As time passed, the prison expanded, housing even modern-day drug runners until it closed in the 1990s. Tours are self-guided, and there's not much to see from outside the tall limestone walls—but check it out if you happen to pass through the area.

The owner of this abandoned building has given his full blessing for local artists to transform the unfinished concrete structure into an open-air art gallery with floor-to-ceiling murals depicting historic events and paying homage to important figures in Grand Turk's history. Check out this spot to take photos and have a quick walk on the nearby beach.