EKALAKA — The oldest museum in Montana is about to triple in size.
The Carter County Museum in Ekalaka, which is in the southeast corner of the state, received two large grants this year totaling $400,000. The grant money will be used to expand the museum’s floor space, allowing for a larger dinosaur exhibit showcase.
See inside the current Lambert Dinosaur Hall below:
The Carter County Museum was founded in 1936 by the Carter County Geological Society.
While the museum first opened in the basement of the original Carter County High School, it now sits in a former automotive garage.
Over the past 89 years, the museum has expanded exponentially, as exhibits such as the World of Dinosaurs and Roots of the American West are inheriting more fossils and artifacts.
The Carter County Museum prides itself on its artifacts and fossils directly from the Ekalaka area.
“If a landscape could tell its story, this is what it would be doing,” said Dr. Nathan Carroll, the museum’s curator.
The highlight of the museum is the World of Dinosaurs Lambert Dinosaur Hall, which houses dinosaur fossils from the Jurassic, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods, all of which are from the Ekalaka area.
“Ekalaka is really well known for being the contact point between the dinosaurs when they went extinct and that recovery period afterward,” said Dr. Sabre Moore, the museum’s executive director.
Interestingly, only one eighth of the museum’s fossils and artifacts are on display, according to Carroll and Moore. The rest of the fossils are in storage, due to a lack of space inside the museum.
“Part of our expansion campaign is that we’re going to triple the size of the museum to 15,000 square feet, allowing us to present more of our dinosaurs and cultural collections on display,” Moore said.
This year, the Carter County Museum was awarded the two grants, $100,000 from the Bank of Baker, and $300,000 from the Montana Historical Preservation Grant program.
According to Moore, besides adding floor space, the museum will also use the money to add an HVAC system and new roof.
“If you keep dinosaurs here local, we can all enjoy them. People can then come in from far away to enjoy them,” said Carroll.
Carroll and Moore hope the museum’s new addition will enhance the experience of visitors, both locals and out-of-staters. According to Moore, the museum brings around $1 million in revenue to Ekalaka, which has a population of about 400.
RELATED|Finding community: Annual dinosaur shindig brings community and financial boost to small town
RELATED|Roundup historical museum added as newest stop on Montana Dinosaur Trail
In late July, frequent museum visitor and local historian Wally Owen was at the museum. Owen told MTN the Carter County Museum is a great place to learn about both ancient and recent Montana history.
“It's just volumes. Everything you could want in history from the dinosaur to modern man," he said. “(Ekalaka) has great cowboy history, right along with the dinosaurs.”
Owen’s opinion on the museum was shared by another frequent museum visitor, Chad “Charles” Jennissen.
“(Ekalaka is) small, but it has this beautiful museum right here, celebrating not only dinosaurs but also a lot of the other history of the area,” said Jennissen. “It’s kinda nice to come (to the museum), see the specimens, and enjoy just celebrating dinosaurs.”
To learn more about the Carter County Museum or to purchase museum tickets, visit this link.
