Creation & Earth History Museum & Bookstore

Art Gallery & MuseumsVerified

About

Creation & Earth History Museum in Santee has explored biblical and scientific narratives from a young-earth creationist perspective since its 1992 founding by the Institute for Creation Research on Woodside Avenue. The 10,000-square-foot facility houses permanent exhibits on cosmology, geology, human anatomy, and ancient civilizations, with a walk-through Age of the Earth Cave and a Dinosaur Soft Tissue Discovery gallery that draw the same research-curious audience browsing science and history sections at Barnes & Noble in Trolley Square. ICR operated the museum for 16 years before relocating to Dallas in 2008, at which point the entire collection transferred to the Light and Life Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has since expanded the footprint and added the life-size Tabernacle Theater. The Human Anatomy Wing showcases detailed biological models illustrating organ systems and cellular structures, while rotating displays address topics from Grand Canyon strata to the Mt. St. Helens eruption record. Visiting groups traveling from outside East County can coordinate overnight stays at Best Western Santee Lodge on Woodside Avenue, which sits within the same corridor as the museum. The Tabernacle Theater replicates the Old Testament wilderness tabernacle at full scale using period-accurate materials and dimensional specifications drawn from the Book of Exodus chapters 25 through 27.