Arizona Museum of Natural History

The Arizona Museum of Natural History
53 N. Macdonald
Mesa, AZ 85201

The Arizona Museum of Natural History is your place for dinosaurs that roar and much more. The valley’s only natural history museum has the best dinosaurs in town, a history courtyard where visitors pan for gold, a native peoples’ gallery includes a replica village and pottery. Where else can you enjoy a cool indoor waterfall? Three changing exhibition galleries offer a variety of interesting subjects.

What is the Arizona Museum of Natural History?

The Arizona Museum of Natural History is the premier natural history museum in Arizona. It is dedicated to inspire wonder, respect and understanding for the natural and cultural history of the Southwest.

What will I experience at the Natural History Museum?

Explore Arizona and the Southwest from the creation of the earth 4.5 billion years ago to the present. See the origins of life on earth, meteorites and minerals. In Dinosaur Hall, discover some of the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived, and on Dinosaur Mountain see how some appeared and sounded in a natural context. In a Walk through Time, explore ancient Arizona’s Paleozoic Seas, Triassic Petrified Forest, monsters of the Cretaceous Seas, and the first animals to fly.

In the Southwest Gallery, you will see Paleoindian big game hunters and gatherers, the first inhabitants of North America, and the Desert Cultures that developed later. Visit a Hohokam village, with pithouses and above-ground structures, outfitted with real artifacts as they might have been from about A.D. 600-1450. See the magnificent Ancient Cultures of Mexico.

Have Fun with History, and explore the Spanish Southwest, Territorial Arizona, and Arizona’s historic 5 Cs in the History Courtyard. Discover many of the movies that have been filmed in Arizona, and be in a western movie yourself!

What’s Cool at AzMNH?

The museum is a place for family fun. Where else can you see a flash flood cascading down a three-story mountain inside a museum? See Elvis the American alligator and a live Gila monster. Experience a real territorial jail, pan for gold in the History Courtyard, and wend your way through the Lost Dutchman’s Mine. Check out the new special exhibitions. Bring a friend or family member of any age to the museum: there is always something new to discover at the Arizona Museum of Natural History.

Can I visit with my School or my Group?

Of course! Kids by the thousands come with their schools to the Arizona Museum of Natural History to learn about the natural and cultural history of the Southwest. Visitors of any age can come in a group and receive special rates. Click on Educator Resources for school field trips and educational materials, and on Groups to arrange a visit for 10 or more persons.

Does the museum conduct active field research?

The Arizona Museum of Natural History is renowned for its field research programs and provides the public with opportunities to work on archaeological and paleontological digs. Come join us on one of our exciting scientific expeditions and contribute to these fascinating fields of science.

The Southwest Archaeology Team (SWAT), sponsored by Curator of Anthropology Dr. Jerry Howard, conducts archaeological research and undertakes historic preservation initiatives such as at the Sirrine House. In addition to excavations such as at Riverview, Park of the Canals, Pew Site and Rowley Site, AzMNH cares for and has plans to develop Mesa Grande, an ancient Hohokam temple mound site in Mesa, as a cultural park open to the public.

Dr. Robert McCord, Curator of Natural History, assisted by the Southwest Paleontology Society (SPS), conducts paleontological research throughout Arizona. Research expeditions have explored the Cretaceous in southeastern Arizona and Sonora, and Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in the Phoenix area and eastern portions of the state. These expeditions have yielded theropod and sauropod dinosaurs, ceratopsians, hadrosaurs and many other kinds of Mesozoic animals, and glyptotheres, rhyncotheres, camels, horses, mammoth, turtles and other members of the later Cenozoic faunas.

What are the collections and where does the museum get them?

The museum holds substantial collections in natural history, anthropology, history and art. The museum obtains most of its paleontological and archaeological collections from the museum’s field research programs. AzMNH receives many collections items from generous donors.

How can I support the Arizona Museum of Natural History?

* Participate as a volunteer. There are many volunteer opportunities to work in almost all areas of the museum.
* Become a member. Visit the museum year around anytime it is open. Receive museum publications, invitations, store discounts and other benefits. Give a membership to a friend.
* Make a donation to the museum through the AzMNH Foundation. Your financial support assists our educational programs, exhibitions, research and collections care.
* Shop in the museum store. The museum store carries great gifts for the entire family. You do not pay sales tax, and store proceeds go to benefit museum programs.

Some facts about the Arizona Museum of Natural History

* Owned and operated by the City of Mesa
* Founded 1977
* Over 1 million visitors since 2000
* 60,000 objects of natural history, anthropology, history & art
* 10,000 historic photographs
* Cares for Sirrine House, 1896 home of Joel Sirrine on Center Street
* Preserves and interprets Mesa Grande, one of the last surviving Hohokam platform mounds in Arizona
* Mesa Grande and Sirrine House listed on the National Register of Historic Places
* Thousands of students from hundreds of schools throughout Arizona visit the museum each year
* Core of the museum is a 1937 WPA era building that originally housed Mesa City Hall, municipal courts, city library, police and fire departments
* Expansions in 1983, 1987 and 2000 bring the museum to 80,000 square feet
* Research Facility at northwest corner of Macdonald and Pepper added in 1995

To find other cultural attractions in the greater Phoenix area, visit the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture Web site.
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Contact Information

City of Mesa
PO Box 1466
Mesa AZ 85211-1466

Mesa City Plaza, Physical Address:
20 E. Main Street
Mesa, AZ 85201

Phone: 480-644-2011
Email: azmnh.info@mesaaz.gov

Copyright 2008 The City of Mesa