Augustana's Fryxell Geology Museum, Rock Island

About Augustana's Fryxell Geology Museum

Augustana's Fryxell Geology Museum in Rock Island holds one of the Midwest's largest collections of rocks, minerals and fossils, with over 20,000 specimens and 1,500 on display. A 22-foot-long skeleton of Cryolophosaurus, a crested carnivorous dinosaur discovered in Antarctica, greets visitors at the entrance. The museum's exhibits include a wall of glowing fluorescent rocks and a cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull. The collection began in the late 1880s as a modest natural history collection and was named after Dr. Fritiof Fryxell, a geology professor who taught at Augustana from 1929 to 1973. School groups can arrange tours by contacting the museum. The museum welcomes individual visitors during weekday and weekend hours when classes are in session. Geology enthusiasts and families interested in paleontology and mineralogy will find extensive specimens to examine throughout the galleries.