We are excited to announce that the Aurora Fossil Museum is now safely welcoming back visitors from 11:00am-4:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays!
They are strictly following COVID-19 guidelines from the NC Department of Health and Human Services, so that visitors will have a safe & comfortable experience. Masks are required and one-way traffic is being regulated through the exhibit rooms. There are hand-sanitizing stations at key entry points.
So, what can you expect when visiting the museum? The Aurora Fossil Museum is an educational resource center that aims to teach visitors about paleontology in an engaging manner while highlighting the natural and cultural history of Eastern North Carolina. In order to do that, visitors are provided with a unique opportunity to dig and collect their own fossil, and then identify it themselves as they explore the exhibits. "We are one of the only fossil museums that offer this experience of discovery," said Executive Director Cynthia Crane.
Currently, the gift shop and two exhibit rooms, the Shark Room and the Nutrien Mine Room, are open to the public. Within these exhibits, visitors can explore collections of vertebrates, invertebrates, Native American Artifacts, and rocks and minerals. In the meantime, the museum is at work to renovate the building and enhance old exhibits. Museum staff members and interns are developing a new Cultural History Room exhibit that will open in 2021.
An important goal for the museum is educational outreach. We recommend you check out the take-home fossil kits, available for $40. The fossil kits include a fossil matrix from world famous Aurora, North Carolina, an identification sheet, some educational material, and the opportunity to arrange a virtual tour of the Aurora Fossil Museum. These kits are perfect for teachers, and the museum is willing to work with teachers to formulate a presentation that aligns with their curriculum. In addition, the museum has partnered with Nutrien and Coastal Carolina Community College to offer the local Boy Scouts two different merit badges: Mining in Society and Geology.
As the museum continues to reopen, they will be offering some virtual opportunities you can catch on Facebook Live and YouTube. They will record weekly sessions with Dr. George as he covers different topics of Archaeology and Paleontology. Also, they plan to move their Aurora History Day online by filming locals as they share their stories of Main Street Aurora, NC, past and present.
This year the Aurora Fossil Museum was rated a Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice 2020 Awardee. Only the top 10% of attractions worldwide are given this honor. At the beginning of each year, the museum launches its’ 50 states campaign, where the first visitor from each state will receive a prize. Before the museum shutdown due to the pandemic on March 16, they had already reached 44 visitors from different states, but every other year they’ve hit their mark very early on. In 2019, the museum welcomed 22,000 visitors. These are incredible achievements for Beaufort County.