Junior Nature Museum and Planetarium 1966

1966 Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., presides over the opening and dedication of the Junior Nature Museum and Planetarium, created through the combined efforts of the Junior League of Hampton Roads and the Warwick Rotary Club.

1976 The facility is expanded and renamed the Peninsula Nature and Science Center, with new exhibits added to include the physical and applied sciences in addition to the natural sciences.

1983 Work begins on transforming the Peninsula Natureand Science Center into America’s first “living museum” modeled after the renowned Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. 

Virginia Living Museum 1987

1987 Governor Gerald L. Baliles opens the new Virginia Living Museum.

1991 The Virginia Living Museum announces the need to expand, citing educational demands and limitations of the existing facility.

1993 The museum’s Volunteer Corps exceeds 370 volunteers who worked more than 42,000 hours in one year and the Volunteer Program is cited as a resource in American Association of Museum’s Handbook for Volunteer Administration.

1998 Public announcement of museum’s planned expansion with $3 million already raised.

Coastal Plain Aviary

2001 Coastal Plain Aviary opens with 16 species of coastal birds, first phase of the $22.6 million expansion.

2002 Gov. Mark Warner attends official groundbreaking for new 62,000-square-foot building. New half-mile elevated boardwalk and animal habitats opened.

2003 Red wolf exhibit opens. It is the first permanent public display of red wolves in Virginia and the first time the museum has exhibited animals that are part of a federal Species Survival Plan.

Virginia Living Museum 2004

2004 New 62,000-square-foot exhibition building opens, along with an additional 1/4-mile of elevated boardwalk and new outdoor animal habitats.

2005 First dinosaur exhibit held in new building, draws record attendance.

2006 Rare red wolf pup born at museum, vulture exhibit opens on outdoor trail.