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1788 El Prado San Diego, CA 92101 – Website
The San Diego Society of Natural History Museum was founded in 1874 in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The museum’s present location was dedicated in 1933 and a major addition doubling the museum space was dedicated in 2001.
The museum itself is rich in history. After being in various buildings and finding them to not be an appropriate fit for the museum, in 1932 a San Diego architect was commissioned to design a new building on East Prado in Balboa Park. In World War II the United States Navy took over the building as a hospital. When the museum reclaimed the building in 1949 major renovations began. In 2001 with the accreditation by the American Alliance, a new design and construction began which doubled the size of the 1933 building.
The museum is not only home to many exhibits, but also serves as the major biodiversity repository of the region. It houses the Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias with many departments calling it home, along with a research library and the San Diego Zooarchaeology Laboratory.
The museum is open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM but closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Natural History Museum is part of the Balboa Park Explorer Pass. General admission is $24 for adults, $20 for seniors 65 years and older, $20 for students with ID, $20 for military with ID, and $14 for youth 3-17 years old and children under 2 years old are free.
