The Burke Museum is 125 years old today!

Today marks the anniversary of the groundbreaking of the Washington State Museum (later to become the Burke Museum). This picture shows the original museum in 1885, home to the museum's founders, the Young Naturalists Society. At that time, the University of Washington was still located in downtown Seattle:

To view a slide show of historic photos of the museum, click here.

Happy Birthday to us!

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

Hey, we’ve got a “quasquicentennial” on our hands

No, it’s not a new fish or mammal species; it’s a 125th anniversary!

This week the Burke Museum officially begins celebrating 125 years as a museum. That’s something to celebrate. To kick off the 12-month celebration, we’re creating special signs, themed events, and posting fun facts about our history on our Website.

The theme is: Celebrating 125 years: Inspiring young naturalists then and now

This theme is directly derived from the obscure but interesting fact that the Burke Museum was actually created by a small group of teenagers in the 1880s. These Seattle teenagers started the Young Naturalists Society, collecting mammals, fossils, and cultural artifacts.

And they dreamed big. They went on to found our museum—and generations of students have been inspired by the Burke ever since.

We want to hear from you… tell us what YOU collect!


* Specifically, in 1885 the Young Naturalists Society” decided to build its own museum. They signed an agreement to locate the building at the territorial university (now the UW).

Posted by MaryAnn Barron Wagner