Information
Landmark: University of Nebraska State Museum (Morrill Hall)City: Lincoln
Country: USA Nebraska
Continent: North America
University of Nebraska State Museum (Morrill Hall), Lincoln, USA Nebraska, North America
Overview
The University of Nebraska State Museum-better known as Morrill Hall-sits at the heart of the Nebraska–Lincoln campus, a top destination for natural history with towering fossil displays just inside its doors.With its rich scientific collections, hands-on exhibits, and deep research archives, it’s a place where you can trace Nebraska’s natural and cultural story-right down to the scent of prairie grasses in a display case.Morrill Hall, its red brick still warm in the afternoon sun, opened in 1908 and took its name from Justin Smith Morrill-the U. S. senator behind the Morrill Land-Grant Act, which provided funding for schools devoted to agriculture and mechanical arts.Nebraska’s official state museum was built to showcase fossils, glittering minerals, anthropological treasures, and hands-on exhibits, capturing the story of the state and its region.Over time, the museum has grown to include cutting‑edge research and hands‑on exhibits, yet it still carries the quiet charm of its century‑old oak floors.Morrill Hall’s exhibits range from long-standing displays to those that change with the season, blending scientific discovery with public learning; in Fossil Hall, you can stand beside towering mammoth bones and see the intricate jaw of a Miocene mammal.Visitors can picture prehistoric creatures thanks to life-size reconstructions, from towering mammoths to birds with outstretched wings.Dinosaur Hall showcases towering skeletons and ancient fossils, with many specimens unearthed in Nebraska and across the sweeping Great Plains.The Hall of Birds and Mammals showcases native wildlife, from prairie hawks to river otters, highlighting how species adapt to Nebraska’s diverse ecosystems.Anthropology and Native Cultures – A hand-carved buffalo horn and other artifacts from Nebraska’s Indigenous peoples reveal the region’s deep human history and rich cultural traditions.In our interactive education spaces, you can run your fingers over touch tables, explore hands-on displays, and dive into stations where science comes alive-inviting kids and adults alike to spark curiosity and learn by doing.Morrill Hall isn’t just a museum-it’s a working research hub where scientists might be cataloging fossils under bright desk lamps.The collections fuel research in paleontology, archaeology, entomology, and ecology, from ancient fossils to delicate butterfly wings.Researchers often draw on the museum’s specimens for journal articles, fieldwork, and conservation efforts, sometimes examining a feather’s fine barbs under bright lab light.Morrill Hall stands out in the region, blending the buzz of a public museum-footsteps echoing through its exhibits-with the quiet focus of a research hub, making it a true leader in education.At the museum, visitors step into a rich mix of vivid displays, engaging lessons, and moments where they can touch and try things for themselves.Towering fossil displays and gleaming skeletons grab your attention, while hands-on exhibits invite you to wander and discover.Docents and educators lead tours, tell stories, and run hands-on demos that bring Nebraska’s natural history-and its environmental legacy-to life, like tracing ancient riverbeds in a sand-filled map.Morrill Hall sits right on UNL’s city campus in Lincoln, just a short walk from nearby university buildings, and you can get there easily by car, bus, or on foot.The museum welcomes everyone with easy-to-reach entrances, hands-on learning programs, and thoughtful amenities, from wide ramps to quiet seating spots, so visitors of any age feel included.The University of Nebraska State Museum, known as Morrill Hall, stands as both a place to learn and a cultural landmark, with fossils gleaming under soft exhibit lights.With vast fossil collections, hands-on exhibits, and a research focus, it’s a place you can’t skip if you’re drawn to natural history, paleontology, or Nebraska’s rich cultural heritage-picture towering prehistoric bones rising under quiet museum lights.It blends solid scientific rigor with an easy, open style, turning the space into one that sparks curiosity, invites learning, and makes you pause to admire the rustle of leaves in the wind.
