Museum of Geology & Natural History:

8:00 am - 4:00 pm EST weekdays; closed weekends and holidays.

Please call ahead if you wish to meet with a geologist: (304) 594-2331

Although a state since 1863, West Virginia was actually millions of years in the making. The mineral wealth and natural beauty of West Virginia are the result of geologic processes that began eons ago. These geologic processes produce the rocks, rivers, minerals, and mountains of the Mountain State.

The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey's (WVGES) Museum of Geology and Natural History, housed in the lobby of the Survey's office on Cheat Lake near Morgantown, showcases the rich and varied story of West Virginia's geology through rock, mineral, fossil, and natural history displays. In addition to being a repository for all types of geologic specimens, the museum's ongoing collection includes historic books, maps, manuscripts, and artifacts.

Our goal is to provide visitors an opportunity to examine geologic specimens and explore the geologic processes responsible for West Virginia's outstanding scenery and great mineral wealth. We hope to give museum visitors an understanding of how geology makes the Mountain State unique, and inspire visits to West Virginia's scenic treasures time and time again.

Selected Specimens and Museum Highlights

• Replica of Megalonyx jeffersonii, the official West Virginia state fossil, an ''Ice Age'' ground sloth
• The Dinosaurs page
• Body Fossils
• Trace Fossils
• Rocks and Minerals
• Edmontosaurus, the only real dinosaur skeleton on display in West Virginia
• Kaskia chesterensis (trilobite)
• Allosaurus fragilis replica (dinosaur)
• Archaeopteryx replica (the first bird)
• Hydnoceras (glass sponge fossils)
• Cone-In-Cone Structures

WVGES Museum Displays Elsewhere in the State

• I-68 Welcome Center, Hazleton, WV
• I-64 Welcome Center, Lewisburg, WV
• SMART Center Market, Wheeling, WV