Memphis Museum of Science & History
Natural history, regional culture, archaeology, a planetarium, giant-screen theater, and the restored Pink Palace mansion make this a hybrid rather than a single-subject science museum.
Artwork inspired by Carroll Cloar
The building began as supermarket founder Clarence Saunders’s unfinished home, then became a public museum. That origin makes the institution’s mix useful: geology, fossils, Indigenous archaeology, city history, and changing science exhibitions share one deliberately eccentric shell.
Confirm which theater or planetarium programs fit your day before arrival. Start with regional natural and cultural history, then enter the mansion itself; families should treat the large-format attractions as scheduled additions rather than the organizing purpose of the visit.
- Mid-South natural history
- Regional fossils and wildlife
- Pink Palace mansion
- Museum inside an eccentric mansion
- planetarium or theater
- Scheduled immersive programs
Quick guide
- First move
- At Memphis Museum of Science & History, begin with Mid-South natural history: Natural history, regional culture, archaeology, a planetarium, giant-screen theater, and the restored Pink Palace mansion make this a hybrid rather than a single-subject science museum.
- Second look
- Pink Palace mansion: The building began as supermarket founder Clarence Saunders’s unfinished home, then became a public museum.
Build the visit around three specific anchors
- Start with
- Mid-South natural history: Natural history, regional culture, archaeology, a planetarium, giant-screen theater, and the restored Pink Palace mansion make this a hybrid rather than a single-subject science museum.
- Look closely at
- Pink Palace mansion: The building began as supermarket founder Clarence Saunders’s unfinished home, then became a public museum.
- Connect the story
- planetarium or theater: A pink-marble mansion filled with Mid-South layers.
- Plan around
- Confirm which theater or planetarium programs fit your day before arrival.
Good to know
Memphis Museum of Science & History: start with regional natural and cultural history, then enter the mansion itself; families should treat the large-format attractions as scheduled additions rather than the organizing purpose of the visit.
Notice these
- Mid-South natural history
- Pink Palace mansion
- planetarium or theater