Tallahassee Museum

About Tallahassee Museum

Tallahassee Museum is a privately funded, non-profit corporation in Tallahassee, Florida, lodged between Lakes Bradford and Hiawatha in Leon County. Its stated purpose is to educate residents of and visitors to the Big Bend area — the part of Florida where the panhandle meets the peninsula — about the region's natural and cultural history from the nineteenth century to the present. The museum describes its mission as inspiring people to transform their lives, community, and the world through a better understanding of the region's natural and cultural environments.

Discussions in 1957 led a group of teachers to form what was first called the "Tallahassee Junior Museum," later renamed the Tallahassee Museum, though the earlier name is still sometimes used. The organization moved to its current 52-acre location in 1962. Unlike a conventional zoo, the museum combines Florida wildlife exhibits with historic buildings, nature trails, and a zipline adventure course, organized across several distinct sections spread across its grounds.

History

What started as the work of a few teachers in 1957 took root on the museum's current grounds in 1962. Buildings and displays across the property mark different eras of Florida history: the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, established in 1851 as the first regularly organized Black church in Florida, was rebuilt by its congregation in 1937 using many of the original hand-hewn timbers and later moved to the museum as a Bicentennial project of Florida A&M University. The Concord School, constructed in 1897 near Miccosukee in Leon County, dates to the Reconstruction era, when communities assisted by the Freedmen's Bureau and churches established schools for the children of formerly enslaved people. A 1920s Seaboard Airline caboose, once part of a railroad that supported the growth of rural North Florida communities from the Jim Crow era through the Civil Rights movement, also sits on the grounds, alongside the Bellevue Plantation house, home from 1854 to 1867 to Catherine Murat, a relative of George Washington by birth and a French princess by marriage to Achille Murat, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte.

In 2011, the museum became home to 23 of artist Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaur sculptures, made from old car parts and scattered across the grounds; the sculptures were originally brought to life in 1979. A "guest" animal habitat was introduced to the Wildlife Florida section in 1988.

Exhibits and habitats

The museum's grounds are organized into several named sections. Big Bend Farm recreates rural life in north Florida around 1880, with homes, gardens, farm buildings and animals, a gristmill, and a turpentine commissary. Wildlife Florida is devoted to the state's native fauna in large, well-vegetated areas resembling native habitats, with black bears, white-tailed deer, and bobcats on display alongside endangered red wolves and Florida panthers, several aviaries, a snake exhibit, and small mammals; a "guest" animal habitat has featured newer arrivals such as a fishing cat, a vulnerable species native to South and Southeast Asian wetlands. Twice daily, staff lead Animal Encounters featuring birds of prey, snakes, rabbits, or skunks — many of the education animals used in these programs were injured in the wild and, unable to survive if released, are used for education under state law rather than being euthanized.

Old Florida gathers the museum's historic structures — the Bellevue Plantation house, the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, the Concord School, and the 1920s Seaboard Airline caboose — each representing a different community function from the region's past. Florida & Beyond includes the Fleischmann Natural Science Building with two freshwater aquaria and bird-watching facilities, the Phipps Gallery with rotating art, history, and cultural exhibitions, and the Discovery Center, a family interactive space with hands-on exhibits on North Florida's natural history and culture. The museum's grounds also include nature trails, one with a boardwalk over normally flooded cypress habitat, and the Twentieth Century Dinosaurs sculpture trail.

For a more active visit, Tallahassee Tree-To-Tree Adventures offers an aerial obstacle course and ziplines through the trees, letting guests see the museum grounds from above.

Animal highlights

The museum's wildlife collection centers on species native to Florida, displayed in habitats resembling their natural range. Named animals include black bears, white-tailed deer, bobcats, red wolves, and Florida panthers — the latter two listed as endangered species — alongside several aviaries and a dedicated snake exhibit. The museum has also introduced newer wildlife additions to its "guest" animal habitat, including a fishing cat, a vulnerable species from South and Southeast Asian wetlands. The materials available here do not include a published species count or full list, so any total is understated.

Planning your visit

The museum's hours are listed as 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and it is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day, as listed on the official website. Free parking is available in the museum's own parking lot. Because the museum is largely outdoors and spread across 52 acres, the site recommends comfortable clothing and shoes suited to walking the grounds, adjusted for the season, and notes the Tree-To-Tree Adventures FAQs are worth checking before attempting the zipline course.

The Trail Break Café, located near the playground, offers food and beverages in an air-conditioned space overlooking canopy oaks, including weekend mimosas; the Museum Store sits alongside it for gifts and local art. Ticketed add-ons include several tiers of Tree-To-Tree Adventures rated by minimum height, from the Treemendous Adventures course for children 41 to 60 inches tall up to the Canopy Crossing and Soaring Cypress courses requiring a minimum height of 54 inches; these can be purchased on their own or bundled with museum admission. Photography or video for commercial purposes requires advance notice to staff and a completed permit process with fees. As always, confirm current hours, prices, and any closures on the museum's official website before visiting.