Most Popular PlacesRandom PlaceListsItinerariesAdd a PlaceDownload the App The Academy of Natural Sciences Cafe Tito The Adam and Eve House The Mountain House Cryptid Tourism: The Best Museums, Destinations & Festivals Across America 2 days ago All the United States Pennsylvania Philadelphia The Academy of Natural Sciences As the oldest natural history museum in the Americas, these halls contain everything from dinosaur bones to biological samples collected by Lewis and Clark. The Academy of Natural Sciences is the oldest natural history museum in the country (and the Americas). It has everything the curious could hope for -- dinosaurs, ancient fish and birds, an emphasis on conservation, and a deep-seated appreciation for the natural world.
Although many of the subjects have been in the museum for well over a century (the academy first opened its doors in 1812), they are well preserved, and their exhibits carefully crafted with hand painted scenes in the background. In a time where screens are everywhere, the academy keeps them to select few. Instead, guests can reflect on the history of taxidermy, the art of curation, and the accuracy of the displays.
The top floor is home to several living creatures -- a miniature zoo where visitors can reflect on the place of some of the smallest creatures in our ecosystem--snakes, turtles, and cockroaches are carefully taken care of. Children can dig for replica bones in a mock archeological dig site. The staff are happy to answer questions and are helpfully placed throughout the three-story building.
For the bird lovers among us, there are a delightful assortment on display. The Academy of Natural Sciences was once the workplace to ornithologist James Bond (yes, like the spy), the man whose friend, author Ian Flemming, named his iconic character after. Get more unusual and extraordinary places each week with the Atlas Obscura Places newsletter.
Your newsletter subscriptions with us are subject to Atlas Obscura's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Tony Blair's garden gnome and a Howitzer shell-turned-flower-pot are on display in this deconsecrated 13th-century church. The oldest natural history museum in western Canada houses more than 5,000 vintage botanical and zoological specimens.
A gorgeous and extensive collaboration between biologists and artists, displaying skeletons and other animal remnants in lifelike poses. See prehistoric footprints, plus two complete mastodon skeletons. Home to fossils and other specimens from the Western Interior Seaway.
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