Field Museum of Natural History

What is Field Museum of Natural History?

Better known simply as the Field Museum, this is a private nonprofit that works hand in hand with the Chicago Park District, which owns both the land and the building. Its permanent exhibitions cover fossils, living cultures from around the globe and interactive displays on conservation, and they draw as many as 2 million visitors in a year.

Behind the scenes, staff care for more than 24 million specimens and objects, which support the museum's own scientific research. Traveling shows and exhibitions made in-house rotate through alongside the permanent halls. The museum even publishes its own work.

History of Field Museum of Natural History

The museum grew out of the World's Columbian Exposition, the world's fair Chicago hosted in 1893, and many of its first artifacts had been shown at the fair. Its founding date is recorded as September 16, 1893. The name honors Marshall Field, the department-store owner who was its first major donor. The classical Greek Revival building on Lake Shore Drive is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Visiting Field Museum of Natural History: tips

Plan on half a day at least; a museum this size rewards a slow pace. It has restrooms on site and is listed as wheelchair accessible. The Adler Planetarium is about 0.5 mile away, making the two an easy pairing, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Art Institute of Chicago are about 0.7 and 1 mile away. Gas is about 0.4 mile away if you are heading straight out of town afterward.