The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center in Columbus has welcomed more than 3.8 million visitors since it opened in June 2009, according to the museum. Its 190,000 square feet of galleries sit on a 200-acre tract just outside Fort Benning, and general admission is still free.

The museum's story goes back much further than its 2009 opening, to a cramped Army hospital building and a fundraising effort that failed in the 1970s. Here are seven milestones, from the museum's own history pages.

1. It started in an old Army hospital

Before the current building, the National Infantry Museum was housed in an old Army hospital on Fort Benning. The museum says space and conditions for its collection were inadequate. An attempt to raise money for a new museum in the 1970s failed.

2. A foundation formed in 1998

In 1998, the nonprofit National Infantry Museum Foundation was formed for one purpose: to plan, raise money for and operate a new museum.

The foundation later formed a partnership with the Army to manage the facility and its collection. Under its lease agreement, the Army reimburses the foundation for about 30% of the museum's annual operating costs, the museum says. Donations, memberships and paid attractions cover the rest.

3. Colin Powell cut the ribbon on June 19, 2009

The old museum closed in April 2008. On June 19, 2009, retired Gen. Colin Powell and other dignitaries cut the ribbon on the new museum, pointing to the Infantryman statue at the entrance, according to the museum's fifth-anniversary article.

That 2014 article called it a $100 million museum. A 2016 foundation article put the figure at $110 million.

4. A top global award in 2011

In 2011, the museum won a Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Themed Entertainment Association, which the museum compares to the industry's Oscars. The award honors extraordinary visitor experiences.

5. 1.6 million visitors in five years

By its fifth birthday in June 2014, the museum had told the Infantry's story to more than 1.6 million visitors. The same year, USA Today's travel writers named it one of the nation's Top 10 military museums.

In 2016, USA Today readers voted it the Best Free Museum in America in the paper's Readers' Choice Awards.

6. The collection goes far beyond the building

The museum holds nearly 30,000 artifacts documenting the Infantry's story, which dates to 1775. Highlights include:

• The Last 100 Yards: the signature ramp, with life-size scenes from eight of the most important battles in Infantry history
• World War II Company Street: seven restored buildings constructed on Fort Benning during the buildup to World War II
• Vietnam Memorial Plaza: a three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall
• Memorial Walk of Honor: tributes to Infantry units and organizations
• Halls of honor: the Hall of Valor, the Ranger Hall of Honor and the Officer Candidate School Hall of Honor

7. It's where new soldiers graduate

Fort Benning's One Station Unit Training graduation ceremonies are regularly held at Inouye Field, directly behind the museum. The museum posts a graduation guide with parking and walking advice, but it says soldiers and their companies are the main source for specific graduation details.

Visiting the National Infantry Museum

The museum also has a Giant Screen Theater and virtual reality combat simulators, which are separate attractions.

How we did this

Columbus Times used the National Infantry Museum's About page, homepage, exhibits and graduation pages, its 2014 fifth-anniversary article and its 2016 "Best Free Museum" article. The museum's articles use both $100 million and $110 million for the building's cost, so we've included both.