Museum of Natural History - Springfield, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 06.243 W 072° 35.157
18T E 699605 N 4664149
Museum of Natural History is now named the Springfield Science museum. It is located in the north east corner of the Quadrangle complex of museums in Springfield, MA.
Waymark Code: WMHG7M
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 07/08/2013
Views: 2
"FOOT TOUR — 1.5 m.
9. The Museum of Natural History (open weekdays except Mon. 1-4.30, Sun. 2-5), with limestone facing, was recently rebuilt from the brick museum erected in 1899. It is by Tilton and Githens, and corresponds in style to the new Museum of Fine Arts. Groups of mammals and birds are mounted in reproductions of their natural habitat. An American Indian group illustrates the manufacture of soapstone bowls."
--- Massachusetts; a guide to its places and people. Page 363; copyright 1937
The Museum was established in 1899 as the Springfield Ethnological and Natural History Museum, “a collection of specimens of natural history and a repository of arts and curiosities, a Museum in fact, of curious or instructive objects… ” When the Museum of Fine Arts was constructed in 1933 the classical façade of the Natural History Museum was replaced with a matching Art Deco façade which includes a frieze of hexagonal bas-relief sculptures of various fauna and flora that represent the natural world. The Museum has expanded its scope and now has six permanent collections in separate exhibit areas.
The Solutia Live Animal Center opened in April 1995 exhibits coral reef fish, New England fish, rainforest animals, and animals that live in mangroves. Seymour Planetarium, the oldest operating planetarium in the United States, can project more than 7,000 stars which vary in brightness. Dinosaur Hall features life size replicas of Tyrannosaurus rex, a Coelophysis, a Stegosaurus skeleton, dinosaur tracks and dinosaur dioramas. The multi-level R.E. Phelon African Hall opened in 1981 with exhibits that highlight the diversity of Africa's wildlife and peoples. The Molecular Playground is an interactive display of biologically significant molecules.