Come see the new exhibits at Burpee Museum

October 15th, 2007 at 10:32am Jill Trojniar

Burpee Museum of Natural History was started in 1942 by a self-taught naturalist, Milt Mahlburg.  Many described the original museum as a small little “cabinet of curiosities”. Today, BurpeeMuseum is 65 years stronger and celebrating our longevity by opening three new unique museum exhibits.

Saturday, October 13 we opened three exciting new exhibits including: 

Dunkleosteus – the demon of the Devonian is a new permanent exhibit featuring a skull cast of a Dunkleosteus.  “Dunk” was a giant armored fish that lived during the Devonian Period 360 Million Years ago. At that time in history the oceans covered vast portions ofNorth America.  “Dunk” grew to be about 25-30 feet in length, weighed about 3 tons and was an apex predator.  Its skull and jaws were made up of bony plates and it had a cartilaginous body.  Recent studies show that this monster had a bite force of over 8000 pounds (4 tons); it could crush or bite off anything that got into its mouth.  Stop by and come face to face with this demon from the Devonian.  

Native American points exhibit is a special anthropology collection donated by Herb Page.  The collection is a Native American collection and consists of arrowheads, points and hand tools all collected by Herb’s grandfather between the 1880’s and 1930’s.  The collection comes from one location in Litchfield, IL. What is truly remarkable about the collection is the span of time it includes.  There are several Clovis points in the collection that date back 12,000 years as well as points that are as young as 400 years old.  This means that this area was a very popular spot and generations of Native Americans returned to this spot over 12,000 years.   

Natural history art exhibit is a new temporary Natural History Art exhibit featuring the artwork of Erica Lyn Huppe.  Erica is a graduate from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and has award winning pieces in her portfolio.  Erica’s collection will be comprised of sketches and paintings.  Some standout pieces will include a Jane exhibit portrait, Montana Badlands Landscapes, portraits of Burpee’s extinct birds like the Carolina Parakeet, Ivory Billed Woodpeckers, and Passenger Pigeon. 

Museum originals – Burpee family items & Mahlburg memorabiliaAlong with the new exhibit openings we will dust off some well-known items from our collections – which will be on display in the Mahlburg Room on Saturday from 11am-3pm and Sunday from noon to 3pm. Come see the shrunken head, the 14 ½ foot American crocodile, variety of large mammals and more! 

Museum hours are: Monday-Saturday 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday 12 noon to 5 pm Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for children ages 3-17. (Admission is FREE for members and every Wednesday for the public.)  The annual membership fee is $60 for families or grandparents and $50 for an individual.  Free parking is available at Burpee
Museum at 737 North Main Street or in Riverfront Museum Park parking lot door at 711 North Main Street.   For more info, phone 815-965-3433 or log on to www.burpee.org.

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