Natural History Museum

From the business

Specialties
Discover your world past and present. Our new Dinosaur Hall has over 300 real fossils, 20 complete dinosaurs and ancient sea creatures and the world's only Tyrannosaurus rex growth series. Get the behind- the- scenes look at how scientists work on fossils at our Dino Lab. Watch as dinosaurs come to life with our Dinosaur Encounters show. Journey through the epic evolutionary story that spans 65 million years. See 240 specimens, including skeletons from mastodons to whales, animal dioramas from North American and Africa, and more. See and touch more than 2,000 spectacular specimens displayed in our Gem and Mineral Hall. Enter into the vault to view diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other exquisite gems. Discover the nature of things while strolling through our extensive Nature Gardens. Kids and adults can take a closer look at how things grow in our Get Dirty Zone. Discover true stories about plants and animals in our Nature Lab. Our Butterfly and Spider Pavilions are open seasonally. Here you can wander through the changing ecosystem with over 30 species of fluttering butterflies all around you, or witness arachnids up close and personal.
History
Established in 1913.

On November 6, 1913, Exposition Park and the new museum -- called then the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art at the time -- opened formally to the public. A two-week civic celebration ensued, dovetailing with the opening of the Owens River Aqueduct. Today, The NHM has amassed one of the world's most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history -- more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. Its curatorial staff not only cares for those collections, but uses them for groundbreaking scientific and historic research. The Museum also curates new, immersive exhibitions that give visitors the opportunity to explore the "big picture" of our planet -- specimens and objects, the stories behind them, and the increasing interrelatedness of the natural and cultural worlds.