Happy 10th anniversary, Mayborn Museum!

It’s hard to believe it’s already been a decade, but 10 years ago this month, Baylor officials dedicated the Mayborn Museum Complex at its new home on University Parks Drive.

Of course, the museum has much deeper roots than that. The Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village was moved to its current location along the Brazos River in 1986, and the Ollie Mae Moen Discovery Center, previously located downtown, dates to 1962. The heart of the Mayborn Museum, the old Strecker Museum, can trace its beginnings all the way back to 1856, when the Baylor science department began its collection; it became a formal museum in 1893 and, at the time of its closing for the move to Mayborn in 2004, was the oldest continually operating natural history museum in Texas.

A decade ago, those institutions came together as the (take a deep breath) Harry and Anna Jeanes Discovery Center at the Sue and Frank Mayborn Natural Science and Cultural History Museum Complex. Since then, more than 1 million visitors have come through the doors to see the Mayborn Museum’s two permanent exhibits — Waco at the Crossroads of Texas, detailing the area’s natural history, and Strecker’s Cabinets of Curiosities, showcasing some of the museum’s most beloved artifacts dating back to its beginnings in 1903 — as well as the 16 themed Discovery Rooms and a host of traveling exhibits. This summer, it will welcome “Be the Dinosaur: Life in the Cretaceous,” which features one of the most complex simulations of dinosaurs and their world ever created.

Whether you live in Waco, are passing through Central Texas on summer vacation, or come into town this fall for a game at the new McLane Stadium (the Umphrey Pedestrian Bridge to the stadium ends practically at the museum’s back door), stop by and help the Mayborn celebrate its 10th anniversary!

Sic ’em, Mayborn Museum!