author
Alabama Museum of Natural History
Housed in historic Smith Hall at The University of Alabama, this museum brings Alabama’s deep past to life with fossils, minerals, wildlife specimens, and archaeology. Founded in 1831, it is the state’s oldest museum and a lively place to explore how natural history and research connect.
1 Audiobook
Mound State Monument, Moundville, Alabama
by Alabama Museum of Natural History
About the author
The Alabama Museum of Natural History is the official natural history museum of the state of Alabama and is located on The University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. University sources describe it as a place that celebrates Alabama’s natural history through exhibitions, collections, teaching, research, and public service.
Founded in 1831, it is the oldest museum in Alabama. Its public galleries in Smith Hall highlight the state’s natural diversity across deep time, with exhibits on dinosaurs, the Coal Age, the Ice Age, archaeology, and the plants and animals of Alabama.
The museum is also part of the wider University of Alabama Museums system, which supports research collections and educational programs. That mix of public exhibits and university-based scholarship gives the museum a special character: it welcomes curious visitors while also helping preserve and study the state’s scientific and cultural heritage.