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~ Museums, Parks, and Places with Geologic and Earth Science Exhibits ~
In the USA:
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CA | CO | CT |
DE | FL | GA |
HI | ID | IL |
IN | IA | KS |
KY | LA | ME |
MD | MA |
MI | MN | MS
| MO | MT
NV
| NJ | NM | NY |
NC | ND | OH | OK | OR | PA |
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SC | SD | TN | TX | UT |
VT | VA | WA |
WV | Wash DC | WI
World Wide: Africa | Asia & Middle East | Australia | Canada | Europe | South America | Virtual Museums
Alabama Museum of Natural History - Tuscaloosa AL. The mineral collection contains an estimated fifteen thousand specimens from all over the world. Some of these specimens are in powder form, while other specimens are massive and weigh hundreds of pounds.
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum - Tucson, AZ. Exhibits include a geology overlook with the expansive view over Avra Valley and its neighboring mountain; an earth sciences center with artificial cave for exploring and a permanent mineral collection has been touted as one of the finest regional mineral collections in the world.
Asarco Mineral Discovery Center - Sahuarita AZ (near Tucson). Copper mine tours and a discovery center explore copper mining and its importance.
Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum - Bisbee AZ. Once the corporate headquarters of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company the museum explores copper,, mining, and what it was like to live and work in a mining town. Exhibits plus mine tour. Smithsonian affiliate.
Museum of Northern Arizona - Flagstaff AZ - Did you know that Flagstaff's beautiful San Francisco Peaks are really a large, dormant volcano? Find this out and more in the Geology Gallery, with its geologic models, fossils, and mineral specimens. The permanent exhibits in this area of the Museum introduce you to the many changes the Colorado Plateau has undergone through millions of years of geologic and volcanic activity.
Petrified Forest National Park - Northeast AZ - Petrified Forest is a Science Park! Best known for globally significant Late Triassic fossils, the park attracts many researchers. Geologists study the multi-hued Chinle Formation. Guided and self guided tours, ranger programs, and information center.
The University of Arizona Mineral Museum - Tucson AZ. Since its conception, the museum has accumulated over 16,000 mineral specimens in the main collection and over 6,000 in the micromount collection. The collection currently represents 1,431 different species with over 2,000 minerals presently on display. The mineral museum also has two displays of meteorites from localities around the world. ^
Matilda & Karl Pfeiffer Museum & Study Center - Piggott AR. More than 1400 mineral specimens and geodes were collected by Mrs. Matilda Pfeiffer from 1960 until 1988. The collection includes specimens from around the world and across the United States. Many of the minerals are on permanent display in the house museum while others are offered for viewing on a rotating basis. Arrangements can be made to view specific specimens.
Buena Vista Museum of Natural History - Bakersfield CA. Numerous geologic exhibitions throughout the museum, activities, events and colorful and educational rock and mineral displays. On display, are locally found specimens. Minerals from locations worldwide also make up the approximately 75 specimens on display.
California Academy of Sciences - San Francisco CA. This popular Bay Area attraction houses a natural history museum, planetarium, aquarium, and rainforest dome. It is also home to a world-class research institution with over 26 million specimens in its collections.
California State Mining and Mineral Museum - Mariposa CA. This museum houses a collection that was started in 1865 in San Francisco. It is the official California State Mineral Collection, with over 13,000 minerals, rocks, gems historic artifacts and fossils. Recently returned in 2000 is the popular crystalline gold Fricot Nugget, weighing 201 ounces, the largest one found during the Gold Rush. Also reflective of days gone is a working scale model of a stamp mill, demonstrating the process of gold extraction.
Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society Museum - Fallbrook CA. Specimens from around the world, California, San Diego county, and a one of a kind gift shop. Also have online video tour.
Gaumer's Museum - Red Bluff CA. Features fifty years and four generations of collecting. Beautiful, rare gem and minerals specimens from around the world , stone carvings, fossils, Native American artifacts, a fluorescent mineral display, and a detailed replica of an old mine tunnel complete with ore car, tracks and mining equipment.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County - Los Angeles CA. More than 2,000 gem and mineral specimens are on view in the Gem and Mineral Hall. The hall features one of the largest gold exhibits in the world, that includes over 300 pounds of natural gold along with gold mining artifacts and other memorabilia. The walk-through Hixon Gem Vault houses such spectacular treasures as exquisite star rubies, emeralds and sapphires.
Natural History Museum of San Diego - San Diego CA. Permanent and temporary exhibits of earth and natural sciences and how they relate to the region.
Oakland Museum of California - Oakland CA. Mineral and geological specimens from throughout the state.
Page Museum at La Brea Tar Pits - Los Angeles CA. Over 1 million Ice Age fossils, from 650 species.
The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology - Claremont CA. Hall of Life showcases the Earth’s 4.6 billion year old history. Floor space is divided into six sections: first covers museum history, and introduces the basic scientific principles of plate tectonics, biological evolution, and stratigraphic superposition. The following exhibits traverse the major divisions of geologic time (Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic), separated by major extinctions. The final area encompasses student-designed temporary exhibits that feature current museum research.
San Bernardino County Museum - Redlands CA. The Division of Geological Sciences holds more than half a million fossils of extinct vertebrates and invertebrates, primarily from the southwestern United States with an emphasis on San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Mineral collections are from the southwest: California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Baja California, with a strong worldwide component for comparison.
San Diego Natural History Museum - San Diego CA. Changing exhibits encompassing earth and natural sciences.
Santa Cruz City Museum of Natural History - Santa Cruz CA ^
Country Boy Mine Tour - Brekenridge CO. Mine tour into a real gold mine at this historic restored mining site. While at the mine you can also gold pan, pet the burros, slide down the 55 foot ore chute, explore the authentic mine site, view the exhibits and equipment that were used in the mine.
Denver Museum of Natural History - Denver CO. Geology collections hold 34,000 specimens of most mineral species in the Rocky Mountains and others throughout the world. Meteorites and rocks also are represented. There is also 48,000 vertebrate fossils, including 54 primary type specimens 50,000 plant and invertebrate fossils, including more than 100 types and illustrated specimens along with other collections covering space sciences, Anthropology, and Zoology.
The Dinosaur Depot Museum - Canon City, CO. World's most complete Stegosaurus, Garden Park Fossil Area where it and many other dinosaurs have been excavated over the last 125 years. You can find out more about the Skyline Drive Trackway Site where dinosaurs walked along the coast of the Western Interior Seaway. Explore fossils and how they are found in our Discovery Room. Talk with people working on fossils in our Preparation Laboratory.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument - South of Florissant CO. 2 different kinds of fossils, massive petrified redwood tree stumps and small carbon impression fossils of plants and insects.
Geology Museum, Colorado School of Mines - Golden CO. Exhibits include minerals from Colorado, Colorado mining heritage and artifacts, gold and silver displays, gemstones - rough and cut, mineral properties, Earth history, special radioactive exhibits, world minerals, and fossils.
Museum of Western Colorado - Fruita CO. Permanent and temporary exhibits at three sites offers an array of learning opportunities.
National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum - Leadville CO. Mining's colorful history is showcased throughout the facility with exhibits all types of mining, a minerals room, and many hands on displays related to mining and minerals.
Western Museum of Mining and Industry - Colorado Springs CO. History of Mining to life for you through a variety of exhibits complete with daily guided tours. ^
Bruce Museum - Greenwich CT. Permanent earth science exhibits include earth's minerals, formation of our land.
Peabody Museum of Natural History - New Haven, CT. Housed at Yale University the museum contains the Hall of Minerals, Earth and Space with historically important worldwide collection of approximately 35,000 specimens; the oldest collection of meteorites and tektites in the United States with thousands of specimens representing more than 400 different meteorite localities and nearly all of the various kinds of meteorites and tektites. ^
Mineralogical Museum - Newark DE. At the University of Delaware The mineral collection at the University of Delaware is an outstanding collection which numbers over 5,000 specimens many originating from a purchased a collection of 2,000 minerals from Tiffany jewelers by Irénée du Pont. ^
Florida Museum of Natural History - Gainesville FL. Large collection of invertebrate fossils, plant fossils, and vertebrate fossils.
Gillespie Museum of Minerals at Stetson University - DeLand FL. Original collection T.B. and Nellie Gillespie donated consisted of some 25,000 specimens. The Ross and Ethel Glenn Collection, of Durango, Colorado, was one of the last major acquisitions. ^
Georgia Museum of Natural History at University of Georgia - Athens GA. The Geology Collections include the Allard Collection for Economic Geology, the Mineralogy Collection and the Paleontology Collection.
William Weinman Mineral Museum - Cartersville GA. The mission of the Weinman Mineral Museum is to educate & inspire a diverse audience of students, enthusiasts & visitors about geology with an emphasis on Georgia, by providing unique experiences through exhibits, programs, special events & outreach in an engaging & fun environment. It houses the largest publicly available collection of Georgia gems, minerals, & fossils. ^
Lyman Museum - Hilo HI. World-renowned mineral collections and special exhibits relating to volcanic nature of the islands. The mineral collection includes Orlymanite, a rare mineral fully identified only in 1987.
Hawaii Volcanos National Park - Volcano HI. Displays the results of 70 million years of volcanism, migration, and evolution -- processes that thrust a bare land from the sea and clothed it with unique ecosystems, and a distinct human culture. The park highlights two of the world's most active volcanoes, and offers insights on the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and views of dramatic volcanic landscapes. ^
Idaho Museum of Natural History - Pocatello ID. At Idaho State University. Collections focus on the natural history of Idaho, but include significant holdings from the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau regions of the Intermountain West.
Idaho Museum of Mining & Geology - Boise ID. Exhibits and educational programs about Idaho’s fascinating geologic history and rich mining heritage.
The Shoshone County Mining and Smelting Museum - Kellogg ID. Exhibits include: Fluorescent Miners Display, Minerals from around the world, Local Minerals, Galena, Lead Carbonate, Tetrahedrite & Sphalerite, Three Dementional Bunker Hill Mine Model, Seven Mines Model, Map of local mill sites & DVD of local mining history, Historic Bunker Hill, and refinery machinery. ^
American Fluorite Museum - Rosiclare IL. The Museum features numerous items representing the fluorspar mining industry, which have been donated by interested citizens, including ore specimens, mining paraphernalia and photographs.
Burpee Museum of Natural History - Rockford IL. Included are exhibits on economic, world and regional geology. See extraordinary displays of unusual rocks, gems, and minerals; and information on plate tectonics, land formations, and more.
The Field Museum - Chicag, IL. Long a Field Museum favorite, the gems and mineral collection possesses a unique history as prized as the priceless jewels it encompasses. The Field Museum houses over 36,500 gem, mineral and rock specimens.
Fryxell Geology Museum - Rock Island IL. At Augustana College. One of the largest and finest collections of rocks, minerals and fossils in the Midwest. Begun in the late 1880s with a modest natural history collection, the museum now boasts over 1,500 rock, mineral, and fossil specimens.
Illinois State Museum - Springfield IL. Exhibits and 200,000 specimens are curated in the geology collections, including 60 type and figured invertebrates, 6 fish types, and over 600 type and figured plant fossils. Also represented is a strong collection of Carboniferous fossils from the scientifically and nationally significant Mazon Creek and Rock Island areas of Illinois
Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art - Elmhurst IL.. The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art presents the beauty of stone in the form of art objects, mineral specimens, gems and gem materials. The museum displays over 233 pieces of jade and hard stone carvings. Other prime example of lapidary art are exhibited in the form of snuff bottles, modern and antique vases, bowls and other decorative accessories. Dioramas feature carved animals, fish and birds. Also included in the collection are excellent examples of Florentine and Roman stone mosaics, gemstone cameos and intaglios, a collection of gemstones and beautiful mineral specimens. ^
Falls of the Ohio State Park - Clarksville IN. 390-million-year-old fossil beds are among the largest, naturally exposed, Devonian fossil beds in the world. The park features a spectacular Interpretive Center overlooking the fossil beds containing an exhibit gallery and video presentation. ^
Indiana State Museum - Indianapolis IN. Permanent exhibits include Ancient Seas, Age of Ice along with changing exhibits and extensive geologic collections in fossils, mineralogy, and petrology. ^
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History - Iowa City IA. A 500-million-year adventure through Iowa's geological, cultural and ecological history plus changing exhibits. ^
Fick Fossil and History Museum - Oakley KS. A number of interesting large dinosaur fossils from Kansas and mineral specimens.
Johnston Geology Museum - Emporia KS. At Emporia State University. The museum contains geological specimens predominantly from Kansas. Included among the 45 displays in the museum are the world famous Hamilton Quarry Fossil Assemblage, the Tri-State Mining Display, petrified tree stumps, western Kansas Cretaceous mosasaur, a giant ground sloth, and mastodon tusk.
Keystone Gallery - Scott City KS. Museum houses a permanent collection of local Kansas Cretaceous fossils.
University of Kansas Natural History Museum - Lawrence KS. The KU Natural History Museum, four floors of exhibits help you explore the life of the planet. Toothy mosasaurs will open your imagination to the Cretaceous seas of 85 million years ago plus other natural history and science related exhibits. ^
Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum - Marion KY. Displays a portion of the lifelong collection of Ben E. Clement, one of the giants of Kentucky mining.
Louisville Science Center - Louisville KY. The World Around Us exhibit brings natural and earth sciences to life in a wide range of interactive and multimedia activities. ^
Lafayette Science Museum - Lafayette LA. Changing exhibits related to natural sciences.
Louisiana Museum of Natural History - Baton Rouge LA. At Louisiana State University. Blake collection, Economic Mineral collection and others are in part on public display. ^
George B. Dorr Museum - Bar Harbor ME. Part of The College of the Atlantic. Museum investigates, interprets and displays the natural world of Maine
LC Bates Museum - Hinckley, ME. The museum includes natural history exhibits, ocal history, Native American collections, rocks and minerals, fossils, outside nature trails, picnic tables, and an arboretum behind the museum.
Maine Geological Survey - Augusta ME. An exhibit of Maine minerals, sells topographic and geologic maps and reports, and is an affiliate of the federal Earth Science Information Center; open to individuals or small groups during normal office hours
Maine State Museum - Augusta ME. Tourmaline and the Rich Legacy of Mining at Mount Mica (through 2015).
Northern Maine Museum of Science - Presque Isle, In Folsom Hall. Displays are in the hallways at Folsom Hall, the museum can be visited anytime the campus is open.
Nylander Museum - Caribou, ME. Displays of minerals, fossils, taxidermied Maine animals, and Paleo-Native artifacts ^
Maryland Science Center - Baltimore MD. Dinosaur discoveries and TerraLink, a high tech environment accompanied by high touch experiences. Part media center, part discovery room, and part newsroom, TerraLink brings you the "latest and greatest" in Earth system science. Additional exhibits plus planetarium.
Berkshire Museum - Pittsfield MA. Gallery of Rocks and Minerals features hundreds of geologic specimens from Berkshire County and beyond, including some rare and exemplary items. Gallery of Dinosaurs and Paleontology combines a fascinating fossil collection with opportunities for active exploration.
Harvard Mineral Museum - Boston MA. The Harvard mineral collection now ranks among the world's finest due to its very broad representation, wealth of rare species, large number of specimens described in the scientific literature, and the quality of its display specimens. The systematic mineral collection and displays of rough and cut gemstones are the principal exhibits in the mineral gallery. The collections of rocks and ores and the Smith meteorite collection constitute an impressive sampling of the earth's crust.
Museum of Science - Boston MA. Changing exhibits related to natural sciences. ^
A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum - Houghton MI. The official Mineralogical Museum of Michigan with the finest collection of minerals from Michigan's famous copper and iron mining districts. Over 60,000 minerals in our possession, and over 20,000 of these minerals are displayed.
Coppertown USA - Calumet MI. Museum traces the evolution of miners and mining people with a series of tasteful exhibits designed for the family.
Cranbrook Institute of Science Museum - Bloomfield Hills MI. General science museum with excellent mineral displays.
Gerald Eddy Geology Center - Waterloo MI. In the geology room, kids and families can discover that geology is fun! Visitors can enter a model ice cave to see themselves standing next to a giant beaver or Jefferson mammoth. Youngsters will enjoy conducting experiments in the "Mad Scientist Lab" and the "Fossil Graveyard" features lift-a-rock models of fossilized bones and teeth. Touch-screen computer games will test your geology knowledge and you can view a large collection of rocks and minerals from throughout the state. Note: State park access sticker required.
Grand Rapids Public Museum - Grand Rapids MI. Collecting objects of local and inter-galactic significance for over 155 years the museum has a huge collection of rocks, minerals, and related on display and available for research.
Gitche Gumee Agates History Museum - Grand Marais MI. A large collection of incredible Lake Superior agates from 71 years of agate hunting.
Houghton County Historical Museum - Lake Linden MI. Everything relating to copper mining.
Iron Industry Museum (Jackson Mine Museum) - Negaunee MI. Attractions include permanent and temporary exhibits, outdoor interpretive paths.
Jesse Besser Museum - Alpena MI. Collection of rare copper artifacts including bannerstones and birdstones.
Kemp Mineral Resources Museum - Sault Ste. Marie MI. Housed at Lake Superior State University, contains W & M Chance Collection.
Michigan Historical Museum - Lansing MI. Minerals, Iron and Copper mining exhibits, mining memorabilia.
Michigan State University Museum - East Lansing MI. The Hall of Evolution exhibit at the MSU Museum is constructed as a time line, with exhibits of fossils arranged in chronological order from the Cambrian Period (about 500 million years ago) to the Pleistocene Epoch or "Ice Age" that ended about 10,000 years ago. The fossils are accompanied by diorama paintings showing the animals as they appeared in life. Fossils displayed include the skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex and a femur from an Apatosaurus.
Quincy Mine and Hoist - Hancock, MI Go inside a real copper mine. Tour the world's largest steam hoist. Numerous rock specimens.
University of Michigan Exhibit Museum - Ann Arbor MI. Permanent displays include: The Hall of Evolution on the Museum's second floor houses Michigan's largest display of prehistoric life. Over 600 million years of life on Earth are traced through fossils, models, and dioramas. Here you can find dinosaurs, prehistoric whales, mastodons, and geology displays on the fourth floor offer a large selection of rocks and minerals. ^
Science Museum of Minnesota - St. Paul MN. Dinosaur and Fossil gallery plus additional permanent and changing exhibits related to all sciences.
Soudan Underground Mine State Park - Soudan MN. Learn about how mining shaped the history and culture of the Iron Range. Explore the dry house, drill shop, crusher house and engine house, and take the boardwalk past one of the deepest open mine pits and the famous Soudan Iron Formation. ^
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science - Jackson MS. Inside the park, the Museum's buildings and grounds feature a 73,000-square foot complex overlooking a 300-acre natural landscape, 2.5 miles of nature trails, and an open-air amphitheater. Located inside the Museum are a variety of permanent and changing exhibits. ^
Joplin Museum Complex - Joplin MO. Consists of the The Everett J. Ritchie Tri-State Mineral Museum one of the world's most exceptional collections of lead and zinc ores as well as other minerals found in the Tri-State District. This museum interprets the geology and geochemistry of the area and illustrates mining processes and methods used from the 1870s through the 1960s. The Dorothea B. Hoover Historical Museum emphasizes the growth and development as the result of the mining in the Tri-State District.
Missouri Mines State Historic Park - Park Hills MO. Explore its history – and see the processing plant of the former St. Joe Lead Company. The mine’s former powerhouse has been turned into a museum that interprets the area’s lead mining history, displays actual machinery from the mines and houses one of the Midwest's finest mineral collections.
St. Louis Science Center - St. Louis MO. A three-building complex with more than 700 hands-on changing exhibits related to all sciences. ^
Montana Tech Mineral Museum - Butte MT. A museum on the Montana Tech campus that exhibits more than 1,300 mineral specimens from a permanent collection of 15,000 specimens.
Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman MT. MOR is home to one of the largest and most famous collection of dinosaur fossils in the world in addition to changing exhibits. ^
University of Nebraska State Museum - Lincoln NE. Walk through the history of life and see spectacular fossil discoveries. Visit our world famous collection of ancient elephants. Touch a two billion year old fossil. Walk on the longest marine fossil. Become a paleontologist with our interactive exhibits. Cases of minerals displaying a spectacular variety of crystal form and color, including Nebraska's State Rock. Other permanent and changing exhibits related to natural sciences. ^
Las Vegas Natural History Museum - Las Vegas NV. Exhibits include Prehistoric Life Gallery and eology Gallery explores breaking science news, the phenomenon of fluorescent minerals and geological natural resources.
W. M. Keck Museum, Mackay School of Mines - Reno NV. An outstanding collection of minerals, ores, fossil specimens and photographs, in addition to mining related relics. There is a special emphasis on early Nevada mining history with samples from famous mineral districts such as the Comstock Lode, Tonopah, and Goldfield. The museum is also home to some of the spectacular Mackay Silver Collection, created by Tiffany & Co., for John Mackay and completed in 1878. ^
Franklin Mineral Museum - Franklin NJ. Over 4,000 mineral specimens on systematic display in the local room including those that are on display in the 32 foot long fluorescent display in the fluorescent room. The museum's fluorescent display has a dazzling array of the world's most brilliant and colorful fluorescent minerals. Welsh Hall houses a systematic collection of world-wide minerals, the largest, most comprehensive mineral collection on public display in the world. There is also a life size mine replica.
Morris Museum - Morristown NJ. The museum’s geological collection, considered one of the best in New Jersey, is home to numerous specimens from throughout the world, but has a focus on the state’s own mineralogical profile. In fact, the geological collection represents 100 percent of New Jersey’s minerals, including Franklin and Watchung Mountain materials.
Newark Museum - Newark NJ. Features Dynamic Earth exhibit created to help young people and adults interpret and understand the natural world, this hands-on interactive exhibition features the Newark Museum's large natural science collection. Engaging, multi-media exhibits help us tell the story of our natural world. The Natural Science Collection is a significant component of the Newark Museum's educational activities, including holdings in botany and geology.
The Paterson Museum - Paterson NJ. Contains a mineral collection was one of the largest in New Jersey.
Rutgers Geology Museum - New Brunswick NJ. The Rutgers University Geology Museum features exhibits on geology, natural history, and anthropology, with an emphasis on the natural history of New Jersey. Exhibits include a dinosaur trackway, a mounted mastodon, rocks and minerals from New Jersey and around the world, and florescent minerals.
Sterling Hill Mining Museum - Ogdensburg NJ. A world famous underground zinc mine in northwestern New Jersey open for tours and collecting. ^
Meteorite Museum - Albuquerque, NM . University of New Mexico. ocated in Northrop Hall on the Main Campus of the University of New Mexico. It houses many meteorites from the extensive collection of the Institute of Meteoritics. The highlight of the Museum is a one-ton piece of the stony meteorite, Norton County, that fell in Kansas in 1948. The theme of our exhibit is “Looking at the Solar System through a Microscope." Our displays show how scientists learn about asteroids, comets, the Moon and Mars by studying samples that have fallen to Earth from space, as well as samples that have been collected by spacecraft missions.
New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources - Socorro, New Mexico. lies one of the great treasure troves of the southwest. Gold, silver, and precious gems, the objects of the Conquistador’s travels and travails, glitter on glass shelves next to other spectacular mineral forms. The main exhibit hall highlights minerals from around New Mexico with over two thousand mineral specimens. Top-quality mineral specimens from around the southwestern United States are also abundant in addition to pieces from around the world. Mining memorabilia, a modest fossil display, and a breathtaking ultraviolet-mineral exhibit are also found in the museum.
New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science - Albuquerque, NM. Timetracks exhibits offer a journey through billions of years of New Mexico's natural history, from the formation of the universe to the present day. The Geosciences wing of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science conducts research geology and paleontology, and maintains the Museum's extensive fossil and mineralogical collection. Additional permanent and temporary exhibits related to earth and natural sciences. ^
American Museum of Natural History -New York NY. Home to the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth with one of the most outstanding collections of geological specimens ever displayed and the Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites with cutting-edge hands-on exhibition space. The Museum is home to the world's largest collection of vertebrate fossils, totaling nearly one million specimens. More than 600 of these specimens, nearly 85 percent of which are real fossils as opposed to casts, are on view.
Buffalo Museum of Science - Buffalo NY. Gems and Minerals exhibits just a number of the more than 10,000 specimens and over 1,000 minerals held at the Buffalo Museum of Science. Additional permanent and temporary exhibits related to earth and natural sciences.
The Hicksville Gregory Museum - Hicksville NY. Exhibits include minerals permanent exhibit, an overview of the major groups of minerals, based on chemical classification, with an emphasis on the silicates and sulfides. Specialized collections include the zeolites and associates from the Paterson, NJ area and fluorescent minerals. Fossils exhibit plus other natural science and local history.
New York State Museum - Albany NY. Minerals of New York exhibit showcases a fraction of the State Museum's enormous mineral collection. Specimens on view represent over 150 years of private mineral collecting and from the public from the state's mines, quarries, road construction and outcrops.
Rochester Museum and Science Center - Rochester NY. Three floors of hands-on exhibitions exploring science and technology, natural science, and our region's cultural heritage. In addition to ongoing favorites such as Expedition Earth plus several new traveling exhibits each year.
The Wild Center - Tupper Lake NY. (Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks) Exhibits include the Glacial Ice Wall and its story of the formation of the modern Adirondacks. Variety of indoor and outdoor natural science exhibits and outdoor activities. ^
Charlotte Natural Museum Discovery Place - Charlotte NC. Interactive exhibits, daily programs, exhibitioins, IMAX, and activities that explore all the natural sciences.
Colburn Gem & Mineral Museum - Asheville NC. The Museum's primary collection includes some 4,500 specimens from North Carolina and around the world. The Museum's gem collection includes over 1,000 cut gemstones from North Carolina and around the world. Other collections include Petrology, North Carolina minerals, fluorescent minerals, fossils, and crystals.
Franklin Mineral Museum - Franklin NC. Contains thousands of specimens of gems, minerals, fossils, Indian artifacts, fluorescent minerals, sea shells, and more on display.
Mineral and Lapidary Museum of Henderson County - Hendersonville NC. Exhibits include minerals of North Carolina, geodes, Cullinan diamond replicas, petrified wood, fossils and local Indian artifacts.
Natural Science Center of Greensboro - Greensboro NC. Roam through the Dinosaur Gallery and come face-to-face with a 36 foot Tyrannosaurus rex model. Discover Earth's masterpieces in the Gem and Mineral Gallery. Enjoy touch labs featuring aquatic life. Visit live snakes, amphibians and sea creatures. Wander though Animal Discovery, our new outdoor zoological park, and come face to face with tigers, gibbons, wallabies, lemurs, howler monkeys and many, many others!
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences - Raleigh NC. Approximately 7,500 mostly North Carolina specimens. Unusual specimens include meteorites, historic samples from gold mines that closed in the early 1900s, vein quartz and vein quartz with sulfide. The collection also includes specimens from historic corundum and monazite mining operations, as well as radioactive minerals from Spruce Pine, North Carolina. ^
Dakota Dinosaur Museum - Dickenson ND. 13,400 sq. ft. Earth Science Museum with emphasis on dinosaurs including 11 full-scale dinosaurs in the museum displayed in a Triassic-Cretaceous time continuum and 3 full-scale dinosaurs outside. The exhibit includes a real Triceratops skeleton and one of the best Triceratops skulls ever found. plus exhibits of rocks, minerals, mammals, and seashells.
Pioneer Trails Regional Museum - Bowman ND. Conserves historical artifacts and fossils, operates a regional museum, educates the public and preserves the history of the area through publishing, curatorship, research, and displays.
Schiele Museum of Natural History - Gastonia NC. Hall of Earth and Man has an expansive collection of mineral specimens among impressive exhibits of dinosaurs, mastodon, saber-tooth cats. Additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences. ^
Cincinnati Museum Center - Cincinnati, OH, Collections include invertebrate paleontology with primary emphasis on fossils occurring in the late Ordovician, vertebrate paleontology with emphasis on Paleozoic and Pleistocene material from the tri-state region and exhibit-quality material from all geologic horizons and geographic area plus mineralogy. Additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences.
Cleveland Museum of Natural History - Cleveland OH. The Wade Gallery showcases a spectacular collection of more than 1500 gems and minerals along with other permanent and visiting exhibits. The museum specializes in collections that can't be found anywhere else in the world.
Orton Geological Museum - Columbus OH. At Ohio State University. See hundreds of crystals and minerals - some that even glow in the dark. Learn about Ohio during the Precambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous periods. Come face-to-face with a 4-foot-long replica skull of the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, and dodge Glyptodon, a giant South American armadillo. ^
D.W. Correll Museum - Catoosa OK. An extensive collection of rocks, gems, minerals and sea shells from around the world.
Sam Noble Museum - Norman OK. At the University of Oklahoma. Exhibits include Hall of Ancient Life, Paleozoic Gallery, Conoco Oil Pioneers Plaza plus collections and additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences.
Science Museum Oklahoma - Oklahoma City OK. A state-wide collaboration of five partner museums working together to provide hands-on discovery learning and science resources to families, students and educators across the state. ^
Crater Rock Museum - Central Point OR. Exhibits include a huge selection of cut and polished geodes and "thunder eggs"nestled among specimens of petrified wood, ancient petrified pine cones, palm trees and much more. The mineral specimen collection is among the most diverse on display in Oregon. You can view gold, gem minerals, and commercial-use minerals. The fossil exhibit is continuing to grow and it we strive to bring you the best and most amazing fossils that are steadily being found throughout the world. Also collections and additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument - Kimberly OR. Protects one of the longest and most continuous records of evolutionary change and biotic relationships in North America. Includes over 14,000 acres found in 3 widely separated units, the Sheep Rock Unit, Painted Hills Unit, and Clarno Unit.
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry - Portland OR. Earth Science Hall focuses on the characteristics of Planet Earth such as geology and tectonics, weather and climate and their inter-relationship with life, both past and present. Also collections and additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences.
Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals - Hillsboro OR. The Museum Collection includes an extensive variety of crystallized mineral species; world class specimens of common quartz and gypsum, colorful copper minerals, one of the two finest red rhodochrosite specimens in the world, rare and beautiful gem crystals of emerald, ruby, aquamarine, morganite, amethyst and thousands of other specimens from around the world. The collection also displays extraordinary lapidary works and examples of agate from locations throughout the Americas. ^
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University - Philadelphia PA. America's oldest natural history museum. Exhibits include Dinosaur Hall with skeletons of more than a dozen dinosaurs, visit a fossil prep lab or dig for dinosaur bones. Also collections and additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences.
Bryn Mawr College Mineral Collections - Bryn Mawr PA. There are 1500 minerals on exhibit in 28 hall cases in the Park Science Center. Many of the finest minerals from the Vaux Collection are on display in hall cases along the first and second floors of the Physics and Math wings of the Park Science Center. In addition, a display of fluorescent minerals (many from the Franklin Mine in New Jersey) is housed in a special dark room.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History - Pittsburgh PA. The Benedum Hall of Geology is dedicated to interactive features that allow the public to learn about geology. The Hillman hall showcases more than 1,300 minerals and gems from all over the world. New acquisitions are added to the collection on an ongoing basis. This breathtaking exhibition hall also explains the basic facts of minerals, rocks, and crystals. Other permanent halls and exhibits dedicated to earth and life sciences.
Delaware County Institute of Science - Media PA. The museum exhibits include fossils, shells, and corals from over the world and miscellaneous other collections. The displays and research collections of minerals include many from famous localities in the area. The museum also houses the original plate blocks used to print Dr. Samuel Gordon's 1922 "Mineralogy Of Pennsylvania." Additionally, specimens brought from the mineral prospects of the West by members of the Delaware County Institute of Science during the 1800's can be viewed and studied.
EMS Museum and Art Gallery - University Park PA. At Penn State University. The main gallery display includes displays of fine minerals such as azurite and "velvet" malachite from Bisbee, Arizona, and amazonite crystals from the Pikes' Peak, Colorado, area. In addition to collections of rocks, minerals, and fossils totaling more than 22,000 specimens, the Museum maintains collections of glasses, ceramics, metals, plastics, synthetic materials, old mining and scientific equipment, and archaeological artifacts. Many of these specimens are on display while the others are available for research and educational purposes
North Museum of Natural History & Science - Lancaster PA. Permanent exhibits include Dinosaur Gallery and its geology collection contains thousands of regional and world-wide specimens. More than 1,150 specimens representing over 200 mineral species are on display with all the major and most minor classes represented in the North Museum’s Cabinet Museum.
Wagner Free Institute of Science - Philadelphia PA. houses an extraordinary collection of natural history specimens including mounted birds and mammals, fossils, rocks and minerals, insects, shells, dinosaur bones, and the first American saber-toothed tiger. Highlights include William Wagner’s personal mineral collection – one of the oldest in the country – and his fossil collection, representing many important European and American localities and collecting sites of the nineteenth century. ^
Museum of Natural History - Providence RI. There are 15,000 earth science specimens consisting of rocks, minerals, and fossils. The Museum has an especially rich collection of plant fossils from Coal Age Rhode Island...these are older than dinosaurs being 350 million years old! The Museum's collections are about 85% natural history and 15% cultural materials along with a Planetarium. ^
Bob Campbell Geology Museum - Clemson SC. The museum's mineral collection consists of over 5,000 specimens along with a special collection that contains 2,000 of the approximately 3,000 different mineral species. You will also find spectacular fossils from all over the world; polished sections of several famous meteorites; and the best display of fluorescent minerals in the southeast.
McKissick Museum - Columbia SC. At the University of South Carolina. Exhibitions can be found on three floors of the Museum. Permanent installations include the Natural Curiosity: The University of South Carolina and the Evolution of Scientific Inquiry in the Natural World. Two galleries on the second floor, as well as one on the third, feature changing exhibitions. Additionally, McKissick offers a wide variety of events and programs year-round.
South Carolina State Museum - Columbia SC. Exhibits include giant shark display, Life in the Past dinosaur exhibit along with collections and additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences. ^
Museum at Black Hills Institute of Geological Research - Hill City SD. A modest but incredible natural history museum. Natural history enthusiasts can rest assured; you will find something unique in this treasure trove of amazing dinosaurs, fossils, minerals and collectibles from all over the world.
Museum of Geology at SD School of Mines and Technology - Rapid City SD. The Museum offers world-class displays of rare real fossils and minerals, as well as educational tours and family events, always free to the public.
National Rockhound and Lapidary Hall of Fame - Murdo SD. The National Rockhound and Lapidary Hall of Fame was founded in 1987 to recognize excellence in the earth sciences by inducting one or more persons each year in six categories: Minerals, Fossils, Metalcraft, Lapidary, Education and Deceased. At this time we have 119 inductees representing 44 states. All of the inductees are experts in their fields. Many of them have published several books and most of them have been active in community service. ^
McClung Museum - Knoxville TN. At the University of Tennessee. Exhibits include Geology & Fossil History of Tennessee plus additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences
Pink Palace Family of Museums, The Museum - Memphis TN. See exceptional examples of rock and mineral specimens. Learn about ancient meteorites as old as the stars. View a working seismograph and new exhibit on earthquakes. A Walk Through Time traces the history of the Earth from its formation 4.6 billion years ago to the last Ice Age. Dinosaurs and Mosasaurs exhibit contains fossils discovered in the region. Additional permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all natural sciences. ^
Fort Worth Museum - Fort Worth TX. DinoLabs & DinoDig DinoLabs and DinoDig® bring the fascinating story of North Texas dinosaurs to life with full articulations of dinosaur skeletons and a dig site replicating a local paleontological field site. Other permanent and temporary exhibits related to natural sciences.
Houston Museum of Natural Science - Houston TX. Special and permanent exhibits including the Weiss Energy Hall with the worlds most sophisticated energy exhibit; the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals with more than 750 crystallized mineral specimens; the Eby Hall of Minerals; new Duncan Family wing has some 750 fossils and 60 large mounts and a new 30,000 sq. ft natural science hall with many other exhibits.
Mayborn Museum - Waco TX. Strecker's Cabinets of Curiosities and Waco at the Crossroads of Texas Natural History Exhibits plus additional permanent and temporary natural history exhibits.
Museum of Nature and Science - Dallas TX. Meet the rock stars of the Museum in our mineral and gems collection! Discover an astounding variety of rocks in all shapes and sizes from amethyst and pyrite to a volcanic bomb and a man-made silicon crystal—and learn the science behind how they’re formed. You also won’t want to miss the spectacular light show performed by our fluorescent minerals. Exhibits include Texas Dinosaurs, Paleontology Lab and other permanent and temporary exhibits related to natural sciences.
Perot Museum of Nature and Science - Dallas TX. Home to an Alamosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs ever found in North America along with the Rees-Jones Foundation Dynamic Earth Hall that highlights the materials and systems of our planet's dynamic environment; Gems and Minerals a 2,600 square foot showcase of rare minerals and gem plus many other halls and exhibits featuring the natural sciences. ^
Hutchings Museum of Natural and Cultural History - Lehi UT. Fossil and Shell Room with beautiful specimens from fish, birds, and leaves to dinosaurs. Rock and Mineral Room features hundreds of specimens. Other permanent and temporary exhibits related to natural sciences and western culture.
USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum - Price UT. Nestled in the heart of a resource rich archaeological, paleontological and geological play land, our museum has much to offer in diverse prehistoric subjects.
Utah Field House of Natural History State Park & Museum. Vernal UT. So much time is revealed here, even more geologic time than in the Grand Canyon. Within an 80-mile radius of Vernal, evidence of the entire Earth's history is visible. At its center is the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum.
Utah Museum of Natural History - Salt Lake City UT. The mineralogy and petrology collections consist of 3,700 mineral and 150 rock specimens from all over the world, as well as Utah, surrounding regions., and world famous locations. ^
Fairbanks Museum - St. Johnsbury VT. The Museum holds over 175,000 objects from an eclectic permanent collection, including natural science specimens, historical artifacts, archival photographs and documents, and ethnological treasures. Changing and long-term exhibits focus on aspects of culture, art and technology relating to the history, traditions and landscape of the Great Northern Forest.
Montshire Museum of Science - Norwich VT. Montshire's 100-acre Museum is a world of science, nature, and technology. Our spacious and light-filled building easily holds both permanent exhibits and featured exhibitions. The exploration continues outside in Science Park, the Woodland Garden, and along the nature trails bordering the beautiful Connecticut River. ^
Georgiadis Mineral Collection - College of William and Mary, Williamsburg VA. A world-class mineral collection that contains some of the more common minerals to gemstones to specimens with unique crystal shapes. The minerals in the collection come from places all over the globe, including Brazil, Romania, South Africa, Italy, Switzerland, Madagascar and Mount Kilimanjaro. Some notable minerals in the collection include rhodochrosites, rubies, emeralds and Owens’ personal favorite—a watermelon tourmaline. Also included are aquamarine, quartz, beryl, tanzanite and topaz.
James Madison University Mineral Museum - Harrisonburg, VA. The museum features over 500 crystals and gemstones from around the world composed of the following displays: Systematic Collection -arranged by chemistry and structure Locality Collections -Amelia, Va. and Elmwood, TN. Minerals of Virginia -Richard S. Mitchell Memorial Collection Large Specimen Display Fluorescent Display -minerals glow under ultra-violet light.
Museum of the Earth Sciences - Radford VA. At Radford University. Encompassing the earth science related fields of Geology, Oceanography, and Physical Anthropology, the Museum of the Earth Sciences attempts to foster an appreciation of the Earth, its past, present, and future.
Museum of Geosciences - Blacksburg VA. At Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences. Exhibits include gems, minerals, and a full-scale model of an Allosaurus dinosaur skeleton found in Utah. A display of minerals arranged systematically by chemical formula is a much-used teaching tool.
Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum - Winchester VA. Paleo Lab and Natural history rooms plus other hands-on exhibits and programs, focused on the sciences, mathematics, the humanities and the arts.
Virginia Museum of Natural History - Martinsville VA. Permanent exhibits include dinosaurs, fossils, fossil overlook prehistoric life exhibit plus collections and other permanent and temporary exhibits related to natural sciences. ^
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture - Seattle WA. At University of Washington. The Burke's mineralogical collection is one of the finest on the Pacific Coast. The collection contains specimens of every major chemical group, and is particularly rich in silicates, carbonates, halides, and sulfides. A portion of the collection is on display in the Burke Museum galleries. In addition to long-term exhibits, the Burke Museum also presents special exhibits that rotate several times a year. ^
National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) - Washington DC. Home to The National Gem and Mineral Collection, one of the greatest collections of its kind in the world. Over 375,000 individual specimens include such famous pieces as the Hope Diamond and the Star of Asia Sapphire, plus a research mineral collection in constant demand by scientists all over the world. The National Meteorite Collection is one the largest and one of the best museum-based collections of meteorites in the world. The National Rock and Ore Collections are divided into sub-collections, and the specimens within each are indexed and retrievable by lithology, locality, museum catalog number, metal/commodity, or volcano. ^
Clay Center for Arts and Sciences - Charleston WV. Milton Gardner’s Earth City explores earth science as you travel through an old-fashioned roadside attraction. The hands-on exhibits explore the story behind West Virginia’s geology and provide a broader understanding of the forces that have shaped and continue to shape the earth. Additional permanent and temporary exhibits. ^
Geology Museum of the University of Wisconsin - Madison WI. From dinosaurs to dolomite, the museum contains a diverse collection of minerals, rocks, and fossils.
Milwaukee Public Museum - Milwaukee, WI. A variety of permanent and temporary exhibits relating to all the earth sciences including "The Third Planet Hall" using the concept of plate tectonics as a central theme. Included is an award winning film introducing the basic concept of plate tectonics and then visitors ascend through a limestone cavern and learn what processes have shaped the earth's surface. The local geologic past of southeastern Wisconsin is depicted in the Silurian reef diorama and a walk-through glacier depicts another time in Wisconsin's geologic history. ^
Dinosaur Safaris, Inc - Big Horn Basin & Shell WY. DSI contracts with small groups to visit and work in their dig sites.
Geological Museum - Laramie WY. At University of Wyoming. Features a variety of displays to illustrate Wyoming's past environments, highlighted by a 75-foot Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) skeleton that dominates the museum's exhibit hall. Another highlight is "Big Al," a display of the most complete Allosaurus fossil ever found. Hundreds of rock and mineral samples from throughout Wyoming's geological history are also displayed, including specimens that illuminate with fluorescent glow under ultraviolet light.
Egyptian Geological Museum - Cairo, Egypt. Established and opened for public in 1904, as a part of the Egyptian Geological Survey (EGS) founded earlier in 1896. The museum introduces the Egyptian land and history to visitors. A large collections of Egyptian and other famous minerals, ores and rocks are in the show cases, In addition, a very valuable collection of meteorites picked from Egypt and from other places in the world, are displayed. ^^
ASIA & MIDDLE EAST
Geological Museum, Geological Survey of Japan - Tsukuba Science City, Japan. designed to introduce the results of the activities of the Survey through display of samples, models, panels etc., and to disseminate the fruits of geosciences to the public so that a glimpse of the interaction between man and earth could be caught.
Geological Museum of the Hebrew University - Jerusalem, Israel. Founded in 1928, the Geological Museum includes collections of minerals, rocks and fossils. The core of the collections was provided by material gathered on geological excursions in Israel and abroad by the founders of the Department of Geology, Professors L. Picard, M. Avnimelech and Y. Bentor. Since then, staff members and students have added extensive material to these collections, which are also enriched by important donations from abroad and through exchange activities.
Paleozoological Museum of China - Beijing, China. Main attractions: Over 800 exhibits are on display, covering a great variety of fossils -- fishes and amphibians (first floor), reptiles and birds (second floor), and mammals (third floor) -- spanning from 400 million years ago to the dawn of man. ^
Australian Museum - Sydney, New South Wales. The Mineralogy, Petrology, Meteorite and Tektite Collection is a major natural history resource whose specimens represent localities no longer accessible, some of the best ever found from their locality, and some rank among the best ever found world-wide. Includes the Albert Chapman Mineral Collection and Listing of Australian fossil sites.
Albert Kersten GeoCentre - Broken Hill, New South Wales. This interactive museum and interpretive centre displays the best of the Broken Hill city mineral collection. The GeoCentre uses the wonders of Broken Hill geology to explain Earth Sciences, especially mineralogy, metallurgy and geological time. The collection includes 1000 - 2000 mineral specimens. Several hundred mining social history artifacts.
Crystal Caves Museumm - Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland. The Crystal Caves is one of the most spectacular mineralogical museums in Australia. Explore a labyrinth of caves 250m² to discover & touch spectacular and colorful natural crystals, ancient fossils, and rare delicate minerals.
Emmaville Mining Museum - Emmaville, New South Wales. Excellent local specimen display. Historic photographs of mines.
Minerals Heritage Museum. - Brisbane, Queensland. Established with the aim of preserving and displaying fine mineral specimens, and especially those from Australian localities
Mining Hall of Fame - Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Wander through the educational, interactive galleries and inspiring gardens featuring the past, present and future of the Australian Minerals Industry.
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory - Darwin, Northern Territory. The Geology collection includes collections of rocks, minerals, and meteorites and tektites. A major part of the rock collection consists of hand specimens of mid-Tertiary limestones from across northern Australia, and other specimens representing the geological history of northern Australia.
Museum of Victoriaa - Victoria, New South Wales. The collections consist of the amalgamation of the States major geological collections, encompassing those of the National Museum, Industrial and Technological Museum, Geological Survey of Victoria and the University of Melbourne.
Pinnacles Mine - Broken Hill, New South Wales. Mineral display, fossicking, tours and sales at this working mine.
Riversleigh Fossil Centree - Riversleigh, Queensland - A World Heritage fossil locality. Includes the Hard Times Mine, a specially-constructed, underground mining experience, the Isa Experience Gallery, with its fascinating displays of the pre-historic, indigenous, social and mining history that has shaped Mount Isa and the region. World Heritage Riversleigh Fossil Centre is an integral part of Outback at Isa, where the region’s pre historic fossils are showcased at the fossil treatment laboratory and world-class displays.
South Australian Museum - Adelaide, South Australia. Excellent South Australian and Australian mineral collection including mineral, rock and a collection of opal fossils.
Sovereign Hill Gold Mining Museum - Ballarat, Victoria. Australia’s foremost outdoor museum – Sovereign Hill recreates Ballarat’s first ten years after the discovery of gold in 1851 when thousands of international fortune-hunters rushed to the Australian goldfields in search of riches.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Galleryy - Hobart, Tasmania.
University of Queensland - Brisbane, Queensland. Museum display of world minerals and crystals.
West Coast Pioneers Museum - Zeehan, Tasmania. Collection of local Crocoite, Cerussite etc and classic minerals as well as historic photographs. ^
Canadian Museum of Nature - Ottawa, Ontario. A comprehensive collections of vertebrate fossils, fossil plants, fossil pollen, fossil fungi, minerals, rocks and gems. Within our collections of 120,000 specimens, there are over 450 primary types. The vertebrate fossil collection contains more than 50,000 specimens, and includes a broad range of fauna from the Devonian to the Pleistocene.
Royal Ontario Museum - Toronto, Ontario. Home to the Gallery of Earth Sciences. In the Minerals Theatre, an audio-visual presentation of "Minerals in the Making: the Inside Story". Four crystal-like display cases present a rainbow of mineral specimens. Interactive activity bays to learn about colors, shapes, and classifications of minerals and gems. The reopened S.R. Perren Gem and Gold Room, where the ROM's collection of more than 1,000 beautiful gemstones and specimens are housed. Enter the dark, dramatic Minerals That Glow Room, to see how ordinary-looking rocks become glamorous under ultra-violet light.
Pacific Mineral Museumm - Vancouver, British Columbia. The Pacific Museum of the Earth is the result of the amalgamation of two pre-existing Museums: The M.Y. Williams Geological Museum and the Pacific Mineral Museum.
Naturhistorishes Museum - Vienna, Austria. The significance of the Mineral Collection is the multiplicity of items coming from occurrences on the territory of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and its alpine regions. Specimens from many of the "classical" deposits in Germany, Russia, England, Italy and other countries are also represented.
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences - Brussels, Belgium. Dozens of permanent exhibits among which is the mineralogy room comprised of two separate parts. Designed to be instructive, the first part introduces the visitor to the fascinating world of minerals. A second part of the room concentrates on ranking minerals species by groups.
Bulgarian National Museum of Natural History - Sofia, Bulgaria. The mineral and rock collections of the Museum comprise some 14 000 specimens or items from all over the world. The collections comprise four main elements: main collection, meteorites and meteorite casts, about 1500 rock samples, 40 gems and semi-precious stones.
Moravian Museum - Brno, Czech Republic. A mineral exposition which makes it easier to understand the history Earth - physical and chemical qualities of minerals, the structure of the Earth and its place in the solar system. Main part of the exhibition is dedicated to the origin of the rocks and minerals - here you can admire the wonderful world of not-living nature of Moravia and Silesia.
Geological Museum - Copenhagen, Denmark. The Geological Museum displays a wide range of geological phenomena. Try touching a meteorite. Learn about: Rocks and minerals, The Geology of Denmark, Salt in the Danish subsoil, The Geology of Greenland, earthquakes, volcanoes, dinosaurs, continental drift, meteorites, the Solar System and more.
La collection de Minéraux, Univ.P.M.Curie -- Paris, France. 24 cases allow the visitor to view 2,000 specimens.
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle - Paris, France. Permanent collections include over 243, 000 mineral specimens, 1.271 metrorites, petrology collections, general geologic collections and more.
Museum of Mineralogy, École des Mines de Paris - Paris, France
Mineralogical Museum, Bonn University - Bonn, Germany.
Mineralogisches Museum der Universität Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany.
Kiel University Mineralogical Museum - Keil, Germany
Museum Reich der Kristalle - Munich, Germany.
Mineralogical Museum of Lavrion - Lavrion, Greece: In the Museum's showcases are exhibited approximately 700 samples of 115 different kinds of metals along with special showcases with gangue and other minerals and with samples of various crystals.
Natural History Museum of Florence - Florence, Italy. The mineralogical collections, originating from the first half of the XVI century are the most important in Italy, and one the most widely known abroad, for historical and scientific value. The 45,000 specimens, the most important of which are the large geodes of amethyst, the topaz crystal, and the crystal of aquamarine. There are also specimens of quartz, calcite, tourmaline, gold and many precious stones and the meteorite collection.
Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle - Luxembourg. With over15, 000 specimens covering systematic, regional, and African collections. There are also additional petrography and meteorite collections.
Netherlands National Museum of Natural History - Leiden, Netherlands. Permanent and temporary exhibits featuring the earth, energy, and gemstones.
Mineralogisches Museum Baia Mare - Baia Mare, Romania.
Fersman Mineralogical Museum - Moscow, Russia. Contains 5 main collections: 90,000 items representing about 2,400 mineral species. More then 4,800 crystals of minerals representing all crystal systems and most of space groups; over 31,000 specimens representing genetic features, mineral association and ore types for more then 300 former Soviet Union; about 2,200 mineral specimens. representing different kinds pseudomorphs, and gem and stone art collection.
Museum of the School of Mines of Madridd - Madrid, Spain. The Museum contains about 10,000 minerals, amongst which the most representative are: silver sulphosalts coming from Freiberg, Hiendelaencina (Spain), and mexican localities; mercury minerals (cinnabar, calomel, etc.) mainly from Almaden (Spain), fluorite, sphalerite and many others.
Swedish Museum of Natural Historyy - Stockholm, Sweden. The collections of the department reflect more than two hundred years of collecting activities. The mineral collection comprises some 140,000 catalogued specimens, 51% of which originate from Swedish deposits. The meteorite collection contains about one thousand specimens from 311 different meteorites. The topographical collection consists of 20,000, partly not yet catalogued minerals, rocks and ores.
Natural History Museum of Switzerlan - Bern, Switzerland.
Geological Museum of Lausanne - Lausanne, Switzerland. Famous historical mineralogical collections include: Russian minerals and ores of Frédéric-César de Laharpe , Evaporite minerals from Bex salt-deposit, Swiss alpine veins minerals of Charles Lardy , and the complete hand-size systematic collection of Samuel Mercanton
ETH Geology-Mineralogy Collection and Exhibitionn - Zurich, Switzerland. Both collection and exhibition are subdivided into Geology - Paleontology and Mineralogy - Petrography sections. Displayed is also a unique collection of geological relief maps, some of which have great historical value.
Geological Walk at the British Geological Survey - Keyworth, UK. The Geological Walk consists of natural stone paving laid out to represent the different geological time periods, with 40 different types of rock used over the 130 metre long concourse. Every step of the way tells a different story starting from a period before life began through to the last great ice age, along the way encountering forbidding deserts, tropical seas and a land stalked by dinosaurs.
National Museums and Galleries of Wales - Cardiff, Wales, UK. The Department holds extensive collections and particular expertise in Paleontology, Petrology, and Mineralogy including collections of Welsh minerals with accompanying databases for mine sites.
National Museums of Scotland - Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Exhibit detailing how did Scotland come to be what and where it is? The exhibition then focuses on the last 650 million years of Scotland's story.
The Natural History Museum London - London, England, UK. The Natural History Museum mineral collection is one of the most important and comprehensive collections of its type in the world with about 350,000 specimens. A rock collection that now consists of over 100,000 specimens and has worldwide coverage. Other collections include meteorites, ocean bottom, ores, gems, building and decorative stores, mantle xenoliths and kimberlites, and world wide petrological collections.
Oxford University Museum of Natural History - Oxford, England, UK. The Mineral Collections comprise around 30,000 specimens from localities worldwide and represent at least 100,000 examples of mineral species. It also includes small collections of gemstones, meteorites, and mineralogical instruments, as well as important collections of decorative rocks.
National Museum of Brazil - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The National Museum brings together the largest collections of Latin American scientific, research laboratories and graduate courses. The component parts of the exhibits open to the public (about three thousand today) are part of the 20 million items of scientific collections preserved and studied by the Departments of Anthropology, Botany, Entomology, Invertebrate, Vertebrate Paleontology and Geology.
National Museum of Natural History - Santiago, Chile. Exhibits include minerals, with emphasis on nitrate boom, fossils, and other natural science related subjects.. The Museum's collections conserved in both metallic and nonmetallic minerals over 5,000 samples from many different countries.
~ Virtual Museums Featuring Online Geology Exhibits ~
The Burke Museum of Natural History - Has several online exhibits including Birthstones Myth and History
The Hooper Virtual Natural History Museum- Hosted by Carleton University at Ottowa, Ontario, Canada
J D Hooker Fossil Side Collection - Hosted at British Geological Survey, a treasure trove of fossils including plant specimens collected by Charles Darwin.
The Museum of Paleontologyy - Hosted by University of California at Berkeley
The National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution)
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