The San Diego Natural History Museum is a 150,000-square-foot museum located at San Diego, California. The museum was founded in 1874, and was formerly known as the San Diego Society of Natural History. It ranks first as the oldest scientific institution in Southern California and places third as the oldest west of the Mississippi.

The museum, in its early years, functioned as the main source of scientific culture in the region. It had a weather station, a petition for the creation of the Torrey Pines State Reserve, and gathered assistance for the San Diego Zoological Society. The Society?s first museum opened in June 1912, when Frank and Kate Stephens had an art exhibit, an event made open to the public several times each week. The Society then decided to acquire a vacant building in Balboa Park. The Society transferred their growing art collections and library to the said building, and from then on, the San Diego Natural History Museum was born.

The San Diego Natural History Museum offers fascinating exhibitions. Visitors are sure to enjoy learning about Earth?s polar regions, dinosaurs, real human bodies, among others. The museum also features giant-screen films that provide a cinematic experience thanks to the giant screen equipped with Dolby Digital 3D. Visitors can head to the Maurice and Kaplan Theater, which can seat up to three hundred individuals, for this treat.

The San Diego Natural History Museum has a store that sells natural-history products and a caf? where visitors can rest and relax before exploring the rest of the museum.