Inland Ocean

As you walk through our doors, you step into our timeline, which began millions of years ago. 

The map at the entrance shows a vast inland ocean, which once covered all of central North America. 

Parts of Kansas were under 900 feet of water — truly an inland ocean.  The fossils from this period are all creatures from the sea or the air, and date back 60-80 million years.

The colorful mural by Chuck Bonner shows what many of the sea and air creatures may have looked like, based on their fossil remains. We have a wonderful collection of fossils and rocks.  Imagine what the inland ocean would have looked like, filled with the huge fish, turtles and clams.