Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, Shell museum and aquarium in Sanibel, Florida, United States
The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is a natural history museum in Sanibel, Florida, dedicated entirely to mollusks and their shells. It displays specimens from oceans, rivers, and lakes alongside living animals in aquariums, covering species from all over the world.
The museum opened in 1995 after the Bailey brothers donated land as a memorial to their parents. Over the following years it grew into a research facility that studies mollusks from a scientific standpoint.
The museum's name honours Frank P. Bailey and Annie Mead Matthews, the parents of the three Bailey brothers who deeded the land in 1989. Outside stands a memorial garden to actor Raymond Burr, a shell collector who raised funds for the building, with a small indoor display on his collecting. Guided beach walks led by museum naturalists teach shell identification and mollusk biology.
The museum is located on Sanibel Captiva Road and is easy to reach by car, with parking available on site. The indoor spaces are air-conditioned, which makes a visit comfortable even on hot days.
Part of the collection came from actor Raymond Burr, who donated rare shells gathered from across the Pacific. Some of these species would otherwise be impossible to see in this part of the world.
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