About Santa Cruz Museum
Santa Cruz Museum is a non-profit organization registered under 501(c)(3). Santa Cruz Museum executes its operations in support of its Mission under the direction of their Board of Directors: Inspiring stewardship of the natural world by connecting people with nature and science. Since Laura Hecox, a Santa Cruz lighthouse keeper and naturalist, founded the museum in 1904, they are the first museum in Santa Cruz. Today, the Museum has hands-on, educational exhibits for kids, families, and adults who are interested in the natural history of one of the most beautiful places on the California coast and the world they live in. The life-size 1982 gray whale statue that stands near the Museum's entrance, between Tyrrell Park and Seabright State Beach, is what many locals know it by.