Alabama Museum of Natural History

Experience the natural diversity of Alabama through exhibits from the Age of Dinosaurs, the Coal Age, and the Ice Age. View the extensive displays of geology, zoology, mineralogy, paleontology, ethnology, history, and photography. Explore the Alabama Museum of Natural History housed in historic Smith Hall, one of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in the region. See the Hodges meteorite, the only meteorite known to have struck a human, and the State Fossil of Alabama: Basilosaurus cetoides.

The Museum is located in Smith Hall on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Capstone Drive on The University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa and is open Monday – Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Directions: To reach the Museum from Highway 82 (McFarland Boulevard) , take the University Boulevard exit and follow the signs leading west to Hackberry Lane. If you are arriving on I-59, exit onto I-359 and take the University Boulevard exit traveling east to Hackberry Lane. Limited parking is available behind the Museum.

Additional parking is available in the parking deck located one block north at the corner of Hackberry Lane and Campus Drive.

Treasures in the Collection
Hodges Meteorite On a cold November day in 1954 in Sylacauga, Alabama, a flaming meteorite fell out of the sky, crashed through the roof of the house, and struck Mrs. Ann Hodges as she napped on the couch. Mrs. Hodges suffered only a bruised leg and became an instant celebrity as the only documented instance of a human to have been struck by a meteorite. Amphibian tracks Three hundred million years ago, during the Age of Coal, an ancient amphibian called a Cincosaurus walked through a muddy swamp in what is now Walker County, Alabama. This animal left fossil footprints, now on display in the museum, which are rare evidence of vertebrates in the Coal Age. Mosasaur When dinosaurs roamed the earth, a fierce swimming lizard called Mosasaur ruled the seas that covered much of ancient Alabama. The museum has the largest collection of Mosasaur material in Alabama. Minerals Large mineral specimens from the collection include calcite, pegmatite, celestite, and kyanite-weighing up to 700 pounds. Many of these minerals are from old mines and other localities which are now exhausted and abandoned.