The Natural History Museum was opened in 1913 in order to prove that Exposition Park was being returned to the people of culture. And big proof it was, for not only is the  museum Los Angeles’ principal venue for exhibitions relating to science, art, and history, but it is also one of the largest, most-visited museums in California. The Petersen Automotive Museum and the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits are satellite facilities.

The museum’s original 1913 Spanish-Renaissance structure was awarded a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Domed rotundas, travertine columns, marble walls and floors, and the east side porch all reflect Bowen’s serious intentions for an elegant edifice. A restored 1926 mural depicts the city’s famous dinosaur life at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits, and it is made even more evocative by the surrounding fossils of animals that lived during the prehistoric era.

More than 30 galleries and halls hold the extensive exhibits, and the museum is the third-largest natural history exhibition arena in the country. The permanent collection consists of more than 35 million specimens and artefacts, all players in planet Earth’s 4,5 billion year history.