With its yellow brick facade, French Chateau style, and location on the highest part of the park's landscape, this building became home to Rhode Island's only natural history museum. Designed by the Providence firm Martin and Hall and built in 1896, it was originally intended to house fine art collections. A donation of mammal and bird specimens from Providence resident John Steere encouraged the sciences and prompted other donations. These early collections laid the foundation for educational programming and, by 1914, the museum was hailed as the "People's University." Exhibits, nature study classes, field walks, and bimonthly bulletins encouraged the community to learn about the natural world with a hands-on approach. By 1916, a new wing doubled the museum's exhibits, and in 1953 a planetarium was added to the second floor. The original 1878 plan for the park by Horace W.S. Cleveland is on display inside the museum.
