THE SAN DIEGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Hot Pink Tourmalines, Kunzites & Fossils
Rock&Gem Magazine|November 2020
At the famous Balboa Park in San Diego, just south of the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society & Museum, is the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) — or the Nat as the locals call it. SNDNHM is one of the most significant natural history museums in the country.
HELEN SERRAS-HERMAN
THE SAN DIEGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM  Hot Pink Tourmalines, Kunzites & Fossils

The San Diego Society of Natural History dates to 1874. In 1917, the society purchased a vacant building from the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Later, a new building was commissioned to architect William Templeton Johnson to fit the museum’s expanding needs, and the new museum opened in 1933. It served visitors for decades, before undergoing a significant renovation. In 2001, after a nine-year and $38 million capital campaign, the museum reopened its doors. The major renovation added 90,000 square feet, more than doubling the museum’s size.

TAKING IT ALL IN

My husband and I first visited the museum in 2000, before the extensive renovation, and we truly enjoyed the collections. I was also captivated by the distinctive architecture and the highly ornamental Spanish-Renaissance freezes on the building, which, unfortunately, were eliminated during the renovation, giving way to a more modern building facade.

We returned to San Diego in 2011, when I participated in the poster session of the Gemological Institute of America’s International Gemological Symposium at close-by Carlsbad. We took the opportunity to revisit the SDNHM and thoroughly enjoyed the special exhibit “All that Glitters,” which display through April 2012.

This story is from the November 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.

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This story is from the November 2020 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.