Visiting the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
The modest Cape Cod Museum of Natural History sits in Brewster within the state of Massachusetts. Its main focus centers on local wildlife, plant life, and archaeology.
History
The concept for this museum dates back to February 1954 when the initial proposal was put forward. Its first president and co-founder was the naturalist John Hay, an active nature preservationist and prolific author who wrote 18 books from his Brewster home. He served as museum president from 1955 to 1980.
The primary mission of the museum was educating children and adults about local flora and fauna. In its earliest days, the term museum was somewhat ambitious, as operations consisted merely of a few traveling exhibits shown in local schools.
It took until 1958 for the museum to acquire its first plot of land in Brewster and 1960 before a physical structure was built. This became the first permanent building of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History to house its collection. Today, it still stands and is known as the summer pavilion.
In 1968, another building opened featuring offices, exhibition spaces, and a library. Later in 2016, the museum expanded again by adding a butterfly greenhouse and educational trails to teach visitors about the importance of pollinators.
The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
The facility spans a 1600m² building that houses exhibition rooms, administrative offices, a butterfly greenhouse, an aquarium featuring 80 local species, bee hives, and a collection of taxidermied birds.
Additionally, the museum encompasses 32 hectares of land adjacent to 130 hectares of conservation land owned by the town. The walking trails wind through a pine forest, a beach, a salt marsh, and a beech forest, offering plenty of room to observe local wildlife firsthand.
A charming museum well worth a stop.
Opening hours
| Monday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 11:00-15:00 |
| Thursday | 11:00-15:00 |
| Friday | 11:00-15:00 |
| Saturday | 11:00-15:00 |
| Sunday | 11:00-15:00 |
During our time in Cape Cod, we visited the town's natural history museum. It is not very big, but it is still a very interesting visit.
You will find many taxidermied birds from the region, the area is rich in birds and they show it off.
In the aquariums, you can see crayfish, turtles, and eels. They are accompanied by very interesting cards explaining the ecosystem of the local marshes.
To finish, a short guided walk that goes down toward the beach, during which the local nature is highlighted.
A very pleasant moment to share with the family.