Columbia has already been blessed with the Marion County Historical Society and Archives Museum, but now a second museum has opened: the Southern Museum of Natural History.
The Southern museum is also located on the west side of Second Street, not far from the Marion County Historical Museum. Whereas the Marion County museum holds treasures and troves from the county, the Southern museum is all about nature, including animals, some of which are extinct, plants and even bugs.
“People would be amazed at some of the bugs we have in Marion County,” Southern Museum Curator, Mickey Webb said.
Walking into the museum, one will be mesmerized by the size of the animals. Webb has life-sized full bodied mounts of an ostrich, lion, grizzly bear, a moose head mount and a caribou head mount, otherwise known as a reindeer, among other animals on display.
“I’m slowly adding to the collection. However, I plan on changing the exhibits up so people will keep coming back and see what we have,” Webb said.
Webb is a forester who loves nature and decided to open the museum as a way to share his love of nature and as a way of teaching people. While the mounts are in the museum, inside his office next door there is an additional wealth of information waiting to be seen and learned about how such a massive California redwood tree produces a tiny seed.
As one tours the facility, they receive a card with questions on it. All the answers are inside the museum just waiting to be discovered.
Webb said the first weekend he was open, he had more than 120 people come in a visit. Currently the operating hours are from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and it is located behind the stage on Second Street. The museum will be closed during the live nativity production that is presented every Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. during the Christmas season.
For more information, please call (601) 441-9714.
