Trip Planner: USA / Texas / Austin / Museums / Texas Memorial Museum

Texas Memorial Museum, Austin

(50+ reviews on the web)

History Museum

The Texas Memorial Museum, which is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, USA, is named in honor of the 1936 Texas Centennial. The museum's focus is on natural history, including paleontology, geology, biology, herpetology, ichthyology and entomology. At one point, the museum also had exhibits on Texas history, anthropology, geography, and ethnography, but these were relocated to other museums (including the Bullock Texas State History Museum) in 2001. The museum has 75,000 visitors annually.The building was designed in the Art Deco style by John F. Staub, with Paul Cret as supervising architect. Ground was broken for the building by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1936. The museum was opened on January 15, 1939.The museum won "Best of Austin" awards from the Austin Chronicle in 2002 and 2005.In October 2013, it was announced that the museum would be losing $400,000 in funding and that the staff would be reduced from twelve employees to four: the museum director, a security guard, a gift shop operator, and one other employee. The museum now is open five days a week and charges admission.

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Reviews

TripAdvisor

jennifer s

Really enjoyed the dinosaur/prehistoric exhibit as well as the various animals of Texas exhibit. The top floor was kind of meh---seemed more geared towards children. more »
teebee777

A good museum showing many artifacts found in different Texas counties. A docent was very helpful in discussing items found in different locales and spent time with the children letting them hold diff... more »
Cassandra W

It's not a big or fancy museum but it's neat and for only $6 it's economical. I saw some reviewers say it's "just for kids" but this 20 something reviewer enjoyed it. Their collections of fossils, gem... more »

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Google

Johannes Axner

A great museum with very nice palaeontology exhibits. Excellent service too. Worth a detour if you enjoy old bones.

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John Luikart

Really good museum with very reasonable entry prices. As long as you don't go in free entry day it is a pleasant experience (to crowded other wise)

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David L

Please adjust your phone menu regarding hours to reflect you are closed on football Saturdays. We are 0-3 this season trying to get in prior to home games.

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Ryan Jensen

Really cool and informative. Parking is tough if you don't spend a lot to park.

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Brent Oatman

Great variety of fossils and minerals on display, huge variety of dinosaurs and ancient reptiles. Lots of local wildlife on display as well. We were disappointed that the dinosaur tracks were not on display but it's hard to take away from the rest of this fantastic museum. Great for kids.

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