University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

The Museum of Natural History at University of Iowa displays its collection across four floors, featuring thousands of bird specimens, mammal skins, insects, and ethnographic objects from around the world. The exhibits show both the range of living creatures and how different human communities have lived and created objects throughout history.

Founded in 1858, this institution ranks among the oldest museums west of the Mississippi River in the United States and was established to preserve scientific collections. The museum began as a way to gather and protect specimens that were being collected across the region.

The collections feature arctic handcrafted items and ethnographic materials from the Philippines, showing how different societies shaped their everyday objects and cultural practices over time. Walking through these galleries gives you a sense of how people from different regions approached similar daily needs in their own ways.

The museum is located in Macbride Hall on campus and welcomes visitors with free admission, so you can spend as much time as you want exploring. The building is easy to reach on foot, and the exhibits spread across multiple floors at a comfortable pace to walk through.

Between 2002 and 2010, the museum led excavations at West Tarkio Creek and uncovered remains of Megalonyx jeffersonii, an extinct animal from ancient times. This fieldwork shows that the institution does more than display collections; it also actively participates in scientific discovery.

Location: Iowa

Address: Macbride Hall, 17 N Clinton St, Iowa City, IA 52240

Phone: +(319)3350480

Website: http://mnh.uiowa.edu

GPS coordinates: 41.66200,-91.53562

Latest update: December 13, 2025 11:46