Museum of Riverside

Exhibits: Core

Nature Lab

Open Tuesday - Saturday, 1:30 - 4:30 pm
Nature Lab contains a small collection of living vertebrate and invertebrate species for visitors to observe, many representing the animal and plant life of the Riverside region. The lab is located on the second floor of the Museum.

Curiosities- How Curiosity Has Inspired Museums to Collect

Before there were printed books – even before there were written languages – human beings collected “things”. Collecting was, perhaps, the first way people had to capture a thought or hold on to an experience. The earliest collections seem to have been made up mainly of personal possessions or items used in special ceremonies. As people’s lives and activities began to include different parts of the world, different cultures, and much more of nature, objects were collected that went beyond any single person’s knowledge. When an object seemed unlike anything in a person’s experience, odd or strange, it came to be called a “curiosity”.

Native Americans of Southern California

Southern California is home to unique and diverse Native American populations. From the coastal Chumash to the Kumeyaay, California’s first people provide a look into Native American life throughout time -yesterday and today. Explore Native American life through basketry, tools, clothing, and other material culture on exhibit as well as Riverside’s local village site, Spring Rancheria.

Naturalist Edmund C. Jaeger and the Riverside Region

Edmund C. Jaeger and his family moved to Riverside in 1910, and upon completing his college education began to focus all his attention on the California desert wilderness, its animal life, and its plants. Jaeger taught at Riverside City College for over 30 years, where he teamed up with students on a groundbreaking study of the desert poorwill, the first bird known to hibernate, and a discovery that was described in National Geographic. Edmund Jaeger died in 1983 but his legend and contributions still live on today. You can view specimens, photographs, and learn more about Jaeger’s life’s works.

Along the Santa Ana

From over 6,000 feet up in the San Bernardino Mountains, all the way to the Pacific, the Santa Ana River watershed is home to almost 1,400 different species of plants and some of California’s rarest animals. Fossils pulled from the river sediments tell us about life in Southern California many thousands of years ago, while rocks and minerals found within the watershed are products of the region’s violent geological history. As a source for drinking water for the area’s cities and vital habitat for rare species, people and organizations work together to understand, manage, and protect this resource.

Waterwise Garden

The garden that surrounds the Museum building demonstrates how to conserve water resources and discourage insect pest infestation using a variety of water-conserving shrubs, grasses, and perennials. Species from Mediterranean-type environments are mixed with cultivated varieties of North American and California natives to provide a variety of foliage textures and a spectrum of seasonally-changing floral color. The plant pallet was selected by landscape architect Eric Barnett with support from Riverside Public Utilities, Public Works, and CalEPA.