Museum of Science and History (MOSH)

The Museum of Science and History (MOSH) is a non-profit institution located on the Southbank Riverwalk of Jacksonville, Florida. It is Jacksonville’s most visited museum and features science and local history exhibits. The MOSH contains a main exhibit that changes every quarter and three floors full of permanent exhibits. The museum also includes the Bryan-Gooding Planetarium which was built in 1988 and featured a 60 ft. diameter, dome-shaped projection screen, stereo system, and star projector. The planetarium has enough room to seat 200 people, and around 60,000 people come to see the planetarium show every year.

The history of the Museum of Science and History goes back to 1941 when the Jacksonville Children’s Museum was chartered. Construction began on the current downtown site in 1965 and the museum opened in 1969. In 1977, the Jacksonville Children’s Museum was renamed to the Jacksonville Museum of Arts and Sciences, and six years after that the museum was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. In 1988, about 37,500 square feet of space was added to the museum, including the planetarium, and the name was then changed to the Museum of Science and History. The latest renovation of the museum took place in 1994 and resulted in a total of 82,200 square feet. The Planetarium was then updated in 2010 with a renovated interior, a new projector, and a new sound system.

When the Planetarium was first built in 1988, it was initially known as the Alexander Brest Planetarium because of a donation made to the museum by Alexander Brest. In 2010, a gift of nearly $500,000 from the Henry and Lucy Gooding Endowment and the Bryan family made the improvements to the Alexander Brest Space Theater possible. The entirety of the dome was deep cleaned and then repainted. The most significant upgrade that came from the donation was a new digital dome projection system which replaced the 22-year-old dome projector. The new system not only has an incredibly high resolution but can also display 3D space simulations using the database from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. This new projector can also project about 118,000 stars whereas the old one could only project about 8,900.

At Jacksonville’s Museum of Science and History, there is always something to learn, and some of the museum’s award-winning exhibits include the Currents of Time, Atlantic Tales, and the Florida Naturalist’s Center that houses some animals native to Northeastern Florida. A breakdown of the MOSH’s exhibits include traveling exhibits, which are seasonal exhibits from other leading museums and design companies; signature exhibits, where guest curators work with the museum to provide a platform of research and collections relevant to the community; and core exhibits, which are permanent exhibits that present an extensive collection of science and history.

The Science and History Museum is located off of 1025 Museum Circle in Jacksonville, Florida. They are open every day of the week with varying times. The museum also has tons of events such as boat tours, planetarium nights, scout workshops, and family yoga.