Discovering Raleigh North Carolina: A Journey Through History
- Richard
- Jul 27
- 2 min read
In a city packed with world-class art, live music and lush green parks, it might surprise you that Raleigh, N.C.'s most-visited year-round attraction is all about ancient fossils, wild weather and the mysteries of the natural world. The largest tourist attraction in Raleigh—by both popularity and prehistoric proportions—is the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS). Drawing more than one million visitors each year, this downtown gem is the most-visited museum in Discovering Raleigh, North Carolina and the largest of its kind in the Southeast.
Founded in 1879, this downtown landmark evolved into a sprawling campus with four floors of exhibits and millions of specimens. The museum has grown from a small natural history collection into an expansive space that bridges science, nature and discovery for all ages. Visitors can marvel at towering dinosaur skeletons, stroll through a butterfly-filled conservatory, peek into real science labs and experience everything from North Carolina's coastal habitats to the far reaches of outer space.
A significant expansion in 2012 introduced the Nature Research Center, an architecturally striking wing connected by a glass bridge. It added hands-on labs, interactive exhibits and the massive, suspended globe known as the SECU Daily Planet, a three-story theater that brings Earth's systems to life in dazzling motion.
The museum made national headlines in 2024 with the unveiling of the "Dueling Dinosaurs" exhibit. The one-of-a-kind fossil display captures a predator and its prey, preserved together in stone. It's the kind of jaw-dropping experience that cements the museum's reputation as the "biggest" must-see around. If that weren't enough reason to visit, the newly opened “Blue Whales “exhibit (running through Jan. 2026) plunges guests into the world of the Earth's largest animals through life-sized models and immersive digital displays.
Comments