Our History

Treehouse Children's Museum was started in 1998 by a collaboration between families in the community. We are a non-profit organization with the full name: The Rapides Exploratory Education House, Inc. It is a fun acronym that spells out T.R.E.E. House! 

Our start up funding was obtained from the Rapides Foundation, Huie-Dellmon Foundation, Coughlin-Saunders Foundation, Bertie-Deming Smith Trust, as well as many private donors and local businesses.

The museum doors were opened to the public in May of 2000 with 7,000 visitors in the first year. Families, school groups, daycares, and the general public filed into the museum as word about the museum quickly spread throughout the community. The museum is host to daily fieldtrips for school groups, daycares, Head Start Centers, and home schooled groups. Treehouse is located in downtown Alexandria and is part of the developing Arts District. In 2001, the children's museum began making plans to expand the museum from 1,528 square feet to offer 7,800 square feet of hands-on learning and interactive fun. The expansion space was made available to us in July of 2003 and was completed in July 2004. An additional multi-purpose educational room was completed in 2012, offering more programming and birthday party space.