Bishop Museum of Science and Nature facts for kids
The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature is in Bradenton, Florida. It's a museum that teaches about Florida's history, especially along the Gulf coast. You can see exhibits about Florida from ancient times to today. The museum also has special exhibits that change regularly.
The Bishop Museum is home to The Planetarium, where you can explore space, and the Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat. This habitat helps sick or injured manatees get better so they can return to the wild. It was also the home of Snooty the manatee, who lived a very long life from 1948 to 2017. The habitat has helped more than 40 manatees since 1998. The Planetarium, first opened in the 1960s, was fully updated in 2020 with new technology.
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| Former name | South Florida Museum |
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| Established | 1946 |
| Location | 201 10th Street West Bradenton, Florida |
| Type | Anthropology, aquarium, astronomy, planetarium, archeology, children's, natural history |
| Public transit access | Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT) |
Contents
Museum History
The South Florida Museum was started in 1946 by local leaders. It first opened in 1947 on Bradenton's Memorial Pier. The museum's first collection included items from Florida's early peoples, like pottery and tools. It quickly became an important place for learning in the community. In 1949, a pool was added for a baby manatee named Baby Snoots. He became very popular and was even the official mascot of Manatee County.
The museum soon needed more space. A new, bigger building was built at its current location. This new facility opened in October 1966. It included a larger aquarium pool, a Spanish Courtyard, and a planetarium. In 1980, the Spanish Plaza was expanded. It showed off the area's Spanish history with a copy of Hernando DeSoto's home in Barcarrota, Spain, and a 16th-century chapel.
In 1993, the Parker Manatee Aquarium was greatly expanded. It became part of the Manatee Rehabilitation Network. The new aquarium had a 60,000-gallon pool. This pool could hold up to three adult manatees.
Around 2000, the museum started a project to update its permanent exhibits. This made the museum a top place for natural and cultural history on Florida's Gulf Coast. In 2001, a fire damaged the Bishop Planetarium and other parts of the museum. After getting help from the government and community, a new, modern planetarium opened in 2005. More renovations continued on the second floor until 2006. These updates added new galleries about medicine, local history, and Florida's natural environments.
In 2012, the museum celebrated its 65th birthday. In 2013, Snooty the manatee had his 65th birthday. Snooty passed away on July 23, 2017, shortly after his 69th birthday. He was the oldest manatee known in the world at that time. On April 10, 2019, the South Florida Museum changed its name to The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature.
Tallant Collection
The museum's first collection came from Montague Tallant. He owned a furniture store in Bradenton and loved collecting old items. He found many ancient pottery pieces, stone tools, and items from early Spanish explorers in Florida. In the 1930s, Matthew Stirling, an archaeologist from the Smithsonian, became his friend. Stirling helped Tallant learn more about his finds.
Tallant started showing his collection in 1935 at Bradenton Memorial Pier. People loved seeing his exhibits. After a big celebration in 1939 for DeSoto's landing in Florida, Tallant wanted to show his collection to even more people. In 1941, he opened the Manatee County Museum on the second floor of his furniture store. It was popular with locals, but not many tourists visited during World War II.
Later, Tallant decided to sell his collection. He wanted it to stay in the local area. So, in the late 1940s, he sold it to the Bradenton Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1948, his collection became part of the new South Florida Museum. Many of these items are still at the museum today. They form the basis for the museum's exhibits on culture and people. Tallant explored at least 169 sites in Florida, mostly in the southern part of the state. His collection has many metal artifacts, which is very unique for Florida.
Bishop Planetarium
In the 1960s, when plans were made for a new museum building, Dr. William Daniel "W.D." Sugg, a local doctor and one of the museum's founders, really wanted a planetarium. He imagined a place that could be both an auditorium and a planetarium, like the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. This idea came true when the Bishop Planetarium opened in 1966.
The planetarium was named after Edward E. "Ned" Bishop, a generous supporter of the museum. His wife, Lillian "Patty" Bishop, gave $375,000 for its construction. The museum decided to build a unique sculpted concrete dome for the planetarium. This design would stand out and be seen from the nearby bridges over the Manatee River.
The planetarium worked well for over 30 years. But on August 23, 2001, an electrical fire damaged the inside of the auditorium and nearby offices. The strong concrete dome helped keep the fire from spreading to the main museum's collections. However, it turned the planetarium into a very hot oven, destroying the theater and its equipment. After repairs, the new Bishop Planetarium reopened in 2005. It had new projection and sound systems. In 2013, even better projection systems were installed. These new systems made the images 25 times sharper and five times brighter, making the planetarium one of the best in the country.
Spanish Plaza
In 1967, Dr. W.D. Sugg, the museum's president, wanted to connect the museum's Spanish Courtyard with the annual De Soto celebration. He planned trips to Barcarrota, Spain, to get items for the museum that were typical of DeSoto's time. These efforts led to the creation of the new Spanish Plaza, which opened in 1980. This area is now used for museum events and also for private events like weddings in the small replica chapel.
Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat
The museum has had a manatee habitat almost since it started. As people learned more about caring for manatees, it became clear that a bigger and better facility was needed for the museum's resident manatee, Snooty. In 1979, plans began for a new part of the museum just for manatees. This new section opened in 1993. In 1994, it was officially named the Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat, honoring Mary Parker, a long-time supporter of the museum.
The new manatee area completed the Spanish Plaza. It allowed visitors to see manatees both above and below the water. It also included a medical pool and a large 60,000-gallon tank for Snooty and other manatees. There's even a boardroom with a view into the manatee tank. The new pool was nine times bigger and twice as deep as the old one. Snooty seemed a bit confused at first because he had lived in smaller spaces his whole life. In 1998, more updates were made to improve the viewing areas for visitors.
The larger pool can hold up to three adult manatees. The medical pool can be used to separate a manatee and lower the water level. This makes it easier for vets to check on the animals. The main pool has both shallow and deep areas. This allows the manatees to act more naturally, like they would in the wild. In 1997, the museum was approved to care for manatees that no longer needed critical medical care but couldn't yet be released. This allowed the museum to work with the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership to help manatees get better and return to the wild. Since 1997, the museum has successfully cared for and released more than 25 manatees.
Snooty the Manatee
Snooty was a Florida Manatee who lived at the museum's Parker Manatee Habitat. He was born at the Miami Aquarium and Tackle Company on July 21, 1948. Snooty was one of the first manatees known to be born in captivity. He was the oldest manatee in captivity and likely the oldest manatee in the world. Because Snooty could not be released into the wild, he was the only permanent manatee resident at the museum. He was also one of the few captive manatees in the United States allowed to interact with human handlers. This made him very important for manatee research and education. The Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat also cares for wild manatees that are being rehabilitated.
Snooty passed away on July 23, 2017, two days after his 69th birthday. He died after accidentally getting into an unsafe area through a hatch door that had been opened. Younger manatees could go in and out, but because of Snooty's large size, he could not get back through the hatch to reach the air.
See also
In Spanish: Museo del sur de la Florida para niños
