North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences


The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is located in Raleigh, North Carolina as the oldest established museum in North Carolina and the largest museum of its kind in the Southeastern United States. With about 1.2 million visitors annually, as of 2013 it was the state's most popular museum or historic destination among visitors.
The museum has four facilities on three campuses: the Nature Exploration Center and Nature Research Center on Jones Street in downtown Raleigh, the Prairie Ridge Ecostation satellite facility and outdoor classroom in northwest Raleigh near William B. Umstead State Park, and the former North Carolina Museum of Forestry in Whiteville. NCMNS is a division of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

History

The North Carolina State Museum was created in 1879, by combining two existing state-owned collections of geologic and agricultural specimens. The museum was originally housed in the Briggs building on Fayetteville Street. The museum's collections, outreach and education programs, and status grew over the next 60 years under the stewardship of H.H. Brimley. As part of the Department of Agriculture, the State Museum moved in 1887 to a former hotel on Edenton Street across from the Capitol building. An annex was added in 1899, but the entire facility was replaced by a purpose-built building in 1924. The facility was later renamed the North Carolina State Museum of Natural History.
In the 1950s and again in the 1990s, shifts in education further expanded the museum's holdings as universities donated their collections to the state. In 1986, it became the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences.
A new building opened later and NCMNS became the largest natural history museum in the Southeast. Also in 2000, the museum expanded with a new location: the Museum of Forestry in Whiteville was added as a satellite campus; this facility was later overhauled and reopened in 2015 as the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Whiteville. Another location was added in 2004, with the opening of the Prairie Ridge Ecostation for Wildlife and Learning. The museum expanded its downtown campus in 2012, with the adjacent Nature Research Center.
The collection now contains more than 1.7 million specimens of amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, mammals, invertebrates, invertebrate and vertebrate fossils, plants, geology, and meteorites.
NCMNS is administered by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Nature Exploration Center

First floor

The Nature Research Center is an, four-story wing across the street from the Nature Exploration Center. The NRC and NEC are connected by a breezeway. The April 20, 2012, opening lasted 24 hours and drew 70,000 visitors.
The NRC provides hands-on activities and visitor-viewing of scientists working in the NRC's four research laboratories. The museum also makes use of distance learning to broadcast lessons and virtual field trips to classrooms around the state.

First floor

The Nature Research Center's three investigate labs are open-to-the-public hands-on educational spaces.
The Nature Research Center's four research labs are part of the museum's Research and Collections department. These spaces have transparent glass walls through which the public can observe firsthand as research scientists do their work. The atrium is home to the LCD sculpture Patterned by Nature.
Prairie Ridge Ecostation is a satellite facility and outdoor classroom located from the museum's downtown Raleigh locations.
It includes Piedmont prairie, forest, ponds, a stream and sustainable building features integrated with a wildlife-friendly landscape.
Prairie Ridge furthers the museum's mission of enhancing public understanding and appreciation of the natural environment by providing an outdoor learning space while acting as a model for renewable and sustainable energy.
The facility opened a Nature PlaySpace Saturday, September 28, 2013.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Whiteville

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Whiteville, formerly known as the North Carolina Museum of Forestry, is a satellite facility of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences located in Whiteville, North Carolina. Its mission is to celebrate the natural history and cultural heritage of North Carolina's forests through interpretive exhibits, educational programming and the preservation of natural and man-made materials that demonstrate the ongoing relationship of forests and people.
Displays and interactive exhibits include an outdoor Tree Trail and Fossil Dig Pit, and the museum offers educational program experiences and special events.

Notable annual events

NCMNS hosts many special events through the year. The most notable are:
On Groundhog Day, February 2, Sir Walter Wally makes his annual prediction for the arrival of the upcoming spring. Sir Walter has a 58% accuracy rating, which has earned him nationwide recognition for his prognostication ability.
BugFest, held in mid-September every year, is a free day-long festival devoted to insects. This event attracts more than 35,000 visitors per year. A smaller version of the festival, called BugFest South, is held at the Whiteville facility in May or June.
NCMNS participates in First Night Raleigh each year on December 31. In 2012, First Night drew 80,000 people to the blocks around the museum.