To see Orange County’s biggest fossil, you have to drive to Los Angeles.
The large marine mammal, Desmostylian, is on loan at the LA Natural History Museum from OC Parks’ Cooper Center – the archeological and paleontological repository for all of Orange County.
That’s because Orange County – unlike every other county in Southern California – lacks a natural history museum.
Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Kern, Ventura, Imperial, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties all have museums focused on illustrating their pasts. Though some, like the Museum of Ventura County, do not identify as natural history museums, they still have exhibits designated to their indigenous history.
All this begs the question: why doesn’t Orange County have one?
Out of the millions of fossils discovered across OC, only 350 have been exhibited.
Orange County’s past only began being systematically preserved starting in the 1970s with the passing of the California Environmental Quality Act which prevented construction over fossils and Native American artifacts, forcing a more mindful approach with the aim of reducing damage to historical relics.
After California’s environmental act was passed, fossils began being uncovered, however there was no place to store them.
Curation only began in 1999, according to county officials, when OC Parks worked with Cal State Fullerton to catalog the county’s collection.
The county’s massive repository is named after Dr. John D. Cooper, a Cal State Fullerton Geology professor who was a key fossil preservation advocate going back to the 1970s and got the first grant setting up the curation effort in 1999.
After grant funding expired, Cooper volunteered his time to the collection until he passed away in September 2007.
In 2011, the county repository was renovated and named the Cooper Center in recognition of John Cooper’s foundational work.
The Uniqueness of OC’s Fossil Record
Since then, OC Parks’ Cooper Center has amassed an impressive six million fossils and artifacts with most ranging from seven million to 40 million years old, with some even being as old as 120 million years, according to OC Paleontology Curator Will Gelnaw.
“We have species here that have been found nowhere else,” said Gelnaw.
This is due to the particularly interesting geological history of the county.
Because Orange County was an ocean until roughly 20,000 years ago, there are few dinosaur fossils. The majority of the county’s fossil record is made up of marine organisms like pinnipeds and cetaceans.
Aquatic ecosystems have greater potential for preservation due to the fact that sediment can be quickly swept over a soon-to-be fossil on the sea floor rather than in the mountains or a different ecosystem.
Because of this, Orange County sees remarkably complete and abundant fossils. Countless new marine species are found from all over the county.
The Cooper Center staff has worked alongside 146 volunteers since 2019, according to OC Parks Spokesperson Danielle Kennedy.
Since the Cooper Center began an internship program in 2021, 66 student interns from universities like Cal State Fullerton have helped with the preservation of the seemingly endless stream of fossils that are constantly being dug up in local construction sites, like the ongoing excavation work at the Prima Deshecha landfill and similar projects.
Alongside Orange County’s paleontological past, even less of the county’s Indigenous history is being told.
According to Kennedy, there are currently no archeological artifacts on display at any OC Parks facilities.
This may be due to recent federal laws on exhibiting artifacts, Kennedy also comments that OC Parks is in the midst of further tribal consultation about the potential display of these artifacts.
“Updates are made when deemed necessary through tribal consultation,” said Kennedy.
Warehouse Life for Fossils in Santa Ana
Though housing most of OC’s fossils, the Cooper Center is far from a museum.
The remaining fossils that are not loaned out remain in storage containers in a small inconspicuous warehouse in Santa Ana.
Despite the huge increase in public interest about paleontology with the rise in popularity of dinosaur documentaries and indigenous history in recent years, there’s little publicity about the Cooper Center, which lacks even its own website, only having a short “History” section under the main OC Parks website.
The Cooper Center does also publish its own lab website with, as of writing, 47 digitized fossils, which provides another way to view the collection. But the site has even less publicity.
According to the OC Parks website, the Cooper Center displays a small number of its artifacts and fossils at five interpretive centers – small museum-like displays – scattered across the county, along with occasional loans to other public facilities like libraries and even other museums like the LA Natural History Museum.
Across these locations, a total of 350 fossils are being displayed while the rest continue to be cleaned and stored, according to OC Parks spokesperson Kennedy.
The Push for an OC Natural History Museum
A local coalition, led by residents like Pat Martz, Mel Schantz and Jere Lipps has been pushing for years for a larger natural history museum in Orange County.
“Given how prosperous the county is, it’s a shame there’s not one place that can tell the full story of Orange County,” said Martz, who leads the museum coalition as president of the California Cultural Resources Preservation Alliance.
Martz – a retired archeologist who lives in Irvine – notes that county supervisors passed a resolution supporting a natural history museum back in 1977 to prevent Orange County specimens from being moved elsewhere due to lack of appropriate facilities.
She said that the preservation alliance circulated petitions for a museum at locations like the San Mateo Campground, San Onofre State Beach, San Clemente, Ralph B Clark regional park and more – collecting an estimated thousand signatures or more.
“All the people want a museum, everybody I talk to,” Martz said.
According to Martz, the California Cultural Resources Preservation Alliance has actively lobbied for a Museum at the Great Park in Irvine, asking that 100 acres be set aside for a cultural terrace on which to construct a museum, which activists estimate could cost as much as $70 million to build.
Martz also notes that the alliance has also looked into other areas to construct a museum as well, such as one location near the Discovery Cube in Santa Ana. However due to a lack of funding they were never able to secure that location.
[Read: Martz: Let’s Say “Yes” to a Cultural and Natural History Museum in Orange County]
“There has to be public pressure put upon the County and the City of Irvine (if that is where this institution is to be) that such a world class institution should be prioritized.” said CCRPA board member Mel Schantz.
Schantz – who is also a preservation alliance board member and longtime Irvine resident – also notes there is strong public support, adding, “Local support by Irvine residents has been constant and unwavering through the three public comment surveys conducted by the Irvine Planning staff.”
Coalition leaders say given the lack of official motivation, any progress in OC depends on residents.
“It really requires some kind of mass education of the population so that they know they have this material.” said previous Cooper Center Director, Jere Lipps, a renowned UC Berkeley professor who studies evolutionary biology.
Why Displaying the Past Matters
Some might argue that in this new digital age, museums are becoming less relevant as there are increasingly easier ways to view and learn about history.
However others, like Luke Sweatland – president and CEO of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History – notes that “museums provide visitors a personal and tangible connection to the larger world, and these institutions help us understand the interdependence of all living things that share this planet.”
Sweatland also highlights the educational aspects museums offer, adding, “For many schoolchildren, a school group visit to a natural history museum is the most positive and memorable science education they will receive before junior high or high school.”
How Much Do So Cal Counties Invest in Natural History Museums?
A natural history museum is no easy task as the buildings are large and curation is expensive.
Virtually all local natural history museums across Southern California operate as non-profit organizations.
Many of the largest – like the LA and San Diego Natural History Museums – were set up around the turn of the last century.
Despite that, it’s a challenge.
“Museums have always faced financial issues,” said Alton Dooley, executive director of the Western Science Center, which is located in the City of Hemet and serves as Riverside County’s repository for fossils.
Dooley credits local community leaders for fundraising the money to start and maintain the Riverside museum, noting “the people of this community really stepped up, made it happen and stuck with it.”
Yet despite that kind of support, the museum was on the verge of closing in 2009, Dooley said.
Board members found a way to rebound by embracing a mix of fee-for-service contracts and traditional philanthropy.
In addition to curatorial income, Dooley notes the museum currently gets about 60 percent of its $2 million annual budget through a deal with the Hemet Unified School District where local school kids are able to take classes at the museum space through a local charter school.
Other museums, like the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, according to officials, have an annual operating budget of $9.5 million. Santa Barbara officials report receiving no financial support from the county or city.
Neither LA or San Diego officials would speak to government support of their budgets.
Yet records show the LA Natural History museum counts on public agency support for its $60 million budget with the LA museum getting around $25 million annually from the County of Los Angeles.
San Diego’s Natural History Museum federal income filing for 2021, known as a 990 form, shows about $2.3 million in government grants out of a total annual budget of about $17 million.
San Bernardino’s County Museum was established as a county department in 1960, and officials said the facility receives $4.7 million from the County of San Bernardino.
Compared to these, Orange County spends on the lower end of the spectrum with OC parks officials indicating that around $1.3 million is allocated annually to the Cooper Center.
How to See Fossils and Artifacts in OC
On top of interpretive centers and loans, in the last three years OC Parks officials said the Cooper Center has attended more than 60 events to help display the massive amount of fossils and artifacts being stored and to help raise awareness about local history.
In addition to this, the Cooper Center also has a website where fossils are digitized for a different form of viewing.
Some of the events that the Cooper Center displays at include like Prehistoric OC and the upcoming Fishing Derby currently set for March 29 at Ralph B. Clark Regional Park.