Niagara Science Museum facts for kids
The Museum is housed in the 1910 former Union Carbide Building.
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| Established | 2009 |
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| Location | 3625 Highland Ave. Niagara Falls, New York 14305 United States |
| Type | Science museum |
The Niagara Science Museum is a cool science museum located in Niagara Falls, New York. It opened its doors in 2009. This museum is all about showing you the amazing history of science. They do this by collecting, fixing, and showing off old scientific tools and machines. Imagine seeing over 2,000 scientific items! These items date all the way back to the 1700s and go up to today.
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What Can You See at the Museum?
The Niagara Science Museum was started by Nick Dalacu. He is a physicist, which is a scientist who studies how things work in the universe. Nick spent over 40 years collecting hundreds of important scientific tools.
Explore Different Science Labs
The museum shows its collection in a special way. They call them 'living laboratories.' It's like the old "cabinets of curiosity" from long ago in Europe. The museum has about twelve rooms, each like a mini-lab.
You can explore labs dedicated to:
- High-voltage electronics and galvanometers (tools that measure electricity).
- A huge collection of microscopes and optics (things related to light and vision).
- Weather instruments.
- Communication and media technologies.
- Hydraulics (how liquids move) and vacuum technologies.
- Medical technologies.
- The history of computers.
See a Working Printing Press
One special part of the museum is the Charlie Troutman Printing Press Room. Here, you can see a working letterpress studio. They use a very old printing press from 1914. It's called a Chandler & Price press.
A Historic and Green Building
The museum is inside an old building. It used to be the Union Carbide building, built in 1910. This building was carefully fixed up to hold the museum's collection. Today, the museum even uses solar panels on its roof for power!
Visiting the Museum
The museum often holds public demonstrations of its collection. They have been part of special events like Atlas Obscura's Obscura Day. Schools from the area also visit the museum. The museum has even shown some of its artifacts at universities. These include the University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College. The museum is also open for anyone to visit and explore.
Museum Milestones
In 2010, the museum received a big gift. It was a collection of important items from the early days of making electricity. In 2011, the museum became an official not-for-profit educational organization. This was approved by the Board of Regents of the State University of New York.
