| S.I.Natural History Museum tips and photos posted by real travelers and Washington D.C. locals.
10th Street and Constitution Ave., NW
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Visitng one or all of the museums is a must while you pay a visit to the DC area. The best part of visiting the musuems is they are free.
You could spend a full day visiting, one, two or as many musuems as you wish. This particular museum houses over 124 million artifacts, and only a fraction are on display.
You can find artifacts from many cultures from all over the world. From fossils to land and see creatures, plants, and the all famous HOPE DIAMOND. Leave a Comment
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I only had about an hour or so to visit this museum, naturally my first stop was to see the Hope diamond, the monster sized blue gem from India. Other "trinkets" you will find in this museum include a stunning pair of diamond earrings owned by Marie Antoinette and an impressive diamond and turquoise crown and diamond necklace given to Empress Marie Louise from Napoleon.
After gawking at the gems, I wandered down to the stuffed animal collection and then it was time to go home. Leave a Comment
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Few museums can match this one in its breadth and scope. Far from being merely a jingoistic celebration of America, it traces all the major streams of the country's historical and cultural development with wings devoted to agricultural advances, maritime and shipbuilding history, road and rail transport as well as electricity. A large section is also dedicated to the fundamental changes that took place during the American Industrial Revolution between 1790 and 1860. All this is in the East Wing of the ground floor. The West Wing of the ground floor is devoted to Science in American Life. This is an exhaustive look at American scientific history from 1876 to the present. Topics such as DNA and the Information Age are covered with care and include many hands-on exhibits specifically aimed at childre
On the second floor, you'll find, among other things, the original Star Spangled Banner from Fort McHenry, the flag which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that eventually became the American national Anthem. You'll also see mock-ups of White House rooms decorated as they were in the early 20th century as well as ball gowns of most American First Ladies.
The third floor is given over to printing, the graphic arts, coins, ceramics, musical instruments, and military memorabilia. There's also the first American gunboat, once captained by Benedict Arnold, as well as a moving exhibition focusing on the internment of ethnic Japanese during World War II entitled, "Toward a More Perfect Union." It shines a rather harsh light on an unfortunate period in our history, one from which much has been learned since those dark days.
It got Closed in september 2006 for renovation but is now open.
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When one thinks of the Museum of Natural History, dinosaur skeletons are the first thing to come to mind. That delights the kids, but there are also plantlife, geological, and other animal life exhibits. This and the Air and Space Museum are probably the most popular Smithsonian museums visited by school groups. I remember coming up here after my 8th birthday and they had a life-sized likeness of a Triceratops, a three-horned, quadriped herbivore in the Cretaceous period. It was so big that most of a school group could ride on its back and that was a medium-sized dinosaur. Leave a Comment
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I love this place. It is SO cool. I'm not even sure that I can do it justice here, so you will just have to go! But I will try: This museum features artifacts and exhibits demonstrating the earth's natural history. Here you can see in a single afternoon their extensive gem and mineral collection which includes the Hope Diamond and real meteors, fossils from dinosaurs of every stripe, including full-scale skeletons, petrified trees, objects from Ancient Egypt, Rome, and the city of Pompeii, and a huge exhibit on the evolution of human beings. There is also an insect zoo, skeletons from almost every known animal on earth, and their rotating exhibits which change every few months. They have a great cafeteria on the ground level and some really nice gift shops, too. There is also an IMAX theatre here that charges admission, though the museum itself is free. Leave a Comment Phone: 202-357-2700Directions: On the Mall next to Museum of American History. Metro Stop: Federal TriangleWebsite: http://www.mnh.si.edu/
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Since I mentioned the Geology, Gems and Minerals Collection is one of my favorite collections in the Natural History Museum, I have to have at least one gratuitous mention of the Hope Diamond!!
If you see the Geology, Gems and Minerals Collection...you have to stop by and visit the Hope diamond...the most famous diamond in the world!! Most people do not know the story of its curse. According to legend, the diamond was stolen from the forehead of an idol in India by a man named Tavernier. With it, a curse of death or illness fell upon all who owned or touched it. He was the first to fall under the curse after being torn apart by wild dogs after he had sold the diamond. It was also owned by King Louis XIV and passed down to King Louis XVI, who with his wife Marie Antoinette went bankrupt. However, the diamond was named after Henry Philip Hope. In 1839 the diamond was listed as belonging to him. His family died in poverty.
The fame with which the stone holds most in American history is within its last owner, Evalyn Walsh McLean, a millionairess with a flamboyant nature and expensive tastes. It was sold to her by Cartier. Whether you want to believe in the curse or not, there was an chain of events afterwards that seemingly fulfilled the promise of the curse. Evalyn's first son was killed in an automobile accident. Her own husband, a chronic alcholic, runs off for another woman only to eventually die in a sanitarium. Before Evalyn died in 1946, her 25 year old daughter died from an overdose of sleeping pills.
In 1949, Harry Winston purchased the diamond and sent the diamond on a nine year goodwill tour. In 1958, after its long history through time, Harry Winston donated it to the American people and it finally came to rest at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. It now sits under three inches of bullet proof glass in the Harry Winston room. Leave a Comment
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I really love the Smithsonian Natural History Museum (always had since I was a child). When you attend grade school close to the nation's capital, it is inevitable that you should see every major tourist attraction before leaving for college. I remember my favorite collections in the museum were always the insects and the gems/minerals.
The museum has of course gotten a lot more sophisticated since I was a child, like adding the IMAX theater. There is also an exhibit of oceanic proportions...the sea creatures exhibit. However, the mammoth that sits underneath the rotunda is STILL there!!! There is much to be said about consistency! Leave a Comment
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the museum of natural history is a huge museum with both collections of living creatures and prehistoric fossils. some of the must see attractions of the museum is the dinosaur hall, the orkin insect zoo, hall of mammals, and of course the hope diamond. at 45.52 carats the hope diamond is the largest blue diamond in the world. this diamond once belonged to king louis XVI of france. you can easily spend a whole day taking in the exhibits of this interesting museum.
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We went here primarily to see the Hope Diamond and it is worth the stop. However there are some 125 million specimens in the museum focusing on the earth and its evolution. There are tons of displays of animals, fossils, minerals, cultural artifacts and plants. Time kept us from doing much more than walking through a couple of exhibit halls, but there is something about stuffed animals that does not appeal to me. So, on to the Hope Diamond for us.
The diamond has a somewhat checkered history. It is said to have been purchased in crudely cut form by a French traveling merchant and sold to Louis XIV who had it cut and set in gold so he could wear it on ceremonial occasions. Not surprisingly it disappeared during the French Revolution. It passed through several owners including the Hope family who owned it for about 60 years. It ended up with the New York diamond dealer, Harry Winston Company who eventually donated it to the Smithsonian in 1958. In the pendant where it is now set, there are 61 smaller diamonds - all in all a pretty impressive bauble. Leave a Comment
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Another branch of the Smithsonian's long list of museums, the National Museum of Natural Museum is argueably one of the best natural history museums in the Americas, easily sitting next to the Field Museum in Chicago and the American Museum in New York. Upon entering the building, you're immediately greeted by a towering African elephant, looking like it's ready to run right at you.
Some of the exhibits included in the museum are areas dedicated extensively to the beginning of the planet, some of the oldest fossils ever discovered, the first animals, the dinosaur eras, the Ice Age, geology, evolution, and native cultures found throughout the world.
One of the great treasures of the Natural History museum is the Hope Diamond, one of the largest (and most infamous) diamonds ever discovered. Legend has it that it's cursed everyone that has owned it, from European nobility to American businessmen. With that kind of track record, you're probably best not to touch it, or get anywhere near it.
This museum is simply a must for anyone visiting the Washington area
Like all other Smithsonian museums, admission is entirely free. Hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Summer hours (between May 23 and September 1 are from 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m Leave a Comment Phone: 202-357-2700Directions: Near the American History museum along the National Mall.Website: http://www.mnh.si.edu/
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