Last updated: 5/3/2018
Clute, Texas
Address
400 College Blvd
Clute, TX 77531
phone: 979-265-7831
e-mail: bmns@bcfas.org
web: www.bmns.org

Hours

Monday
closed
Tuesday - Saturday
10 AM - 4 PM
Sunday
2 PM - 5 PM

Staff

Wanda Coker
phone: 979-265-7831
Johnney Pollan
phone: 979-265-7831
e-mail:
Brian Miles
phone: 979-265-7831
e-mail:
Janey Cormier
phone: 979-265-7831
e-mail:
Description

Named one of the ten best museums in Texas by Frommer's Travel Guide, the Museum is home to the largest collection of shells on display in the South with shells from around the world. The Museum also features real life-sized fossilized dinosaur skeletons and other rarely exhibited fossils plus exhibits on wildlife, rocks & minerals and archeology to round out the museum.

History

Chartered as Brazosport Youth Museum (June 1964), amended to Brazosport Museum of Natural Science (August 1969). Moved to Brazosport Center for Arts & Sciences (1976). Over 14,000 visitors annually include local residents, school and senior tours and visitors from other states and countries.

The Museum is Home of the State Shell. In the 1980's Museum personnel initiated the process to have the state legislature designate the Lightning Whelk as the State Shell. The designation became offical in April, 1987

The Museum which has 12,000 square feet of floor space, is housed in the 45,00 square foot Center for the Arts & Sciences along with a planetarium, two performing arts theaters, and an art gallery and studio. The Center hosts over 80,000 visitors each year.

Artifact Collections

(p)Primary collections are: Malacology, Archaeology, Mineralogy, Fossils, and Wildlife; a collection of North American Game Birds. The Malacology collections consist of more than 13,000 displayed shells and almost that many reserved for study collections. The archaeology collections include a Karankawan pottery collection which is the most complete to be found anywhere in the state, an extensive lithic collection, 19th-century Anglo-Texas ceramics, and various items collected from local plantations. The best of the Museum's mineral collections are displayed in eleven exhibits, plus five cabinets containing micro-minerals. A beautiful collection of carved ivory is displayed in the same area. Four large display windows show the best of the fossil collections. A large number of Texas fossils are not displayed. The museum also has a study set of Claiborn fossils. The wildlife area displays both local and world-wide butterflies and moths, local shore birds, a River Otter, a Javelina, a Brown Bear, a Blue Heron, local snakes, and a wildlife diorama with small animals and birds native to the area. Temporary exhibits change regularly with displays of items of local interest and/or concern. A Children's Corner allows young visitors an opportunity to manipulate various items related to Museum topics (animals, skins, bones, marine life, e.g.)

Educational Programs

Tours (schools, public requests, senior groups), lectures ( in teh Museum and for school classes), classes for children (Discovery Week, Dinosaur Day, special programs.

Publications

Annual Report, affiliate monthly group newsletters (Brazosport Archaeological Society, Brazosport Birders, Sea Shell Searchers), brochures, "State Shell" information leaflet

ADA
Wheelchair Accessible
Parking
Restrooms
Exhibitions
Museum Events
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MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Public Lands Alliance 2025 Convention and Trade Show

February 2 - 6, 2025

Las Vegas, Nevada

Georgia Association of Museums 2025 Conference

February 5 - 7, 2025

Milledgeville, Georgia

Small Museum Association 41st Annual Conference 2025

February 17 - 19, 2025

Gaithersburg, Maryland

2025 California Association of Museums Conference

February 18 - 22, 2025

San Fransico, California

2025 Tennessee Association of Museums Conference: HOPE

March 11 - 14, 2025

Knoxville, Tennessee

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