Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is located in the city of Sanibel, Florida on Sanibel Island on the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida.[1] It opened to the public in 1995, and operates as an information and reference center for national and international scientists, students, and shell enthusiasts who are interested in the marine, terrestrial, and land mollusks of the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
The museum was designed by architect George "Tutts" Tuttle Jr., from neighboring Captiva Island.
Sanibel Island is one of the better seashell collecting spots in the world (comparable to Jeffreys Bay in Africa and the Sulu Archipelago in the Pacific). Many of the museum's exhibits were collected on the island's own beaches. In addition, actor Raymond Burr owned a shell-strewn island in the Fijis and gave his considerable collection of Fijian cowries and cones to the museum.[2]
The founding director was R. Tucker Abbott.
[edit] References
- ^ The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
- ^ Lowry, Betty. "Sanibel -- It Rhymes With Shell". Society of American Travel Writers, 1998.
 This Florida museum-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
