Founded in 1853 as a learned society to survey California’s natural riches, the California Academy of Sciences grew into California’s oldest operating museum and natural sciences research institution. After opening early museums in San Francisco, it lost much of its library and collections in the 1906 earthquake and fires, though figures such as botanist Alice Eastwood helped save and rebuild key specimens. Since moving to Golden Gate Park in 1916, it expanded with major public attractions and research facilities. Rebuilt after damage exposed by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, its 2008 building unites environmental design, public education, and active biodiversity research.

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