Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Natural history museum in University Circle district, Cleveland, US
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a nonprofit institution in the University Circle neighborhood dedicated to the study and presentation of the natural world. Its collections include dinosaur skeletons, local wildlife, gemstones, and archaeological finds displayed in permanent and rotating galleries.
The institution opened in the early 1920s, bringing together several local scientific societies that had been founded in the 19th century. Over the decades it expanded its research operations and moved to a larger building on Wade Oval Drive in the 1950s.
The museum takes its name from Cleveland, while visitors today walk through galleries featuring reconstructed habitats from Ohio and around the world. School groups and families often use the spaces for hands-on activities where they examine fossils or study minerals.
The renovation work has changed the layout of the galleries, so it can be helpful to ask for an updated map when you arrive. Some sections are temporarily closed during construction, but the main exhibits remain accessible to visitors.
One of the largest scientific skeleton collections in the world is housed here and is still used for medical and anthropological studies. The collection began in the late 19th century and continues to grow through donations and research partnerships.
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