Digging Up a Hidden Gem at Stetson University

Step Inside the Gillespie

Having visited quite a few science museums over the years, I’ll be the first to admit that they can be incredibly loud and overstimulating on busy weekends, especially those geared toward kids. They are fun, educational, and usually packed with hands-on activities, but sometimes it’s nice to slow the pace and actually have time to absorb what you’re learning. That is exactly what Avery and I found at the Gillespie Museum at Stetson University in DeLand.

Tucked away on Stetson’s picturesque campus, this little museum is a literal hidden gem, housing one of the oldest and largest geologic collections in the Southeast. More than 15,000 minerals, rocks, and fossils make up the collection, with nearly 1,000 on display at a time through permanent and rotating exhibits.

What makes the Gillespie especially unique is that the museum itself is an ongoing “school project.” Stetson faculty and undergraduate students contribute as museum staff, develop class projects and exhibits, participate in outreach programs, and use the grounds for place-based research. Founded in 1958, it has served as a center for earth and environmental science education for both the university and the surrounding community for nearly seven decades.

A Museum Made for Curious Minds

Inside, dazzling gems and minerals fill display cases alongside fossils and exhibits exploring Florida geology, ecosystems, volcanism, the rock cycle, and more. Stored specimens are regularly brought out through changing exhibits, so there is always a new reason to come back. Many exhibits also blur the line between art and science, making this much more than a room full of pretty rocks.

Avery especially loved the man-made cave tucked into one corner, where explorers can learn about cave-dwellers, minerals, and rocks that glow under ultraviolet light. From there, we moved on to a DIY microscope station with prepared slides featuring everything from minerals to once-living specimens like insects.

The Gem Mining Challenge

Then we found the gem mining station.

Each guest is allowed to choose three specimens to take home, which sounds simple until you hand that responsibility to an eight-year-old determined to make exactly the right selections. We spent well over an hour digging while Avery carefully inspected stone after stone, comparing each one to the identification charts on the wall before deciding whether it was worthy of her gem bag.

With thousands of rocks, minerals, and fossils in its collection, the Gillespie proves you do not need a huge museum for a big discovery

More Than Rocks and Fossils

A small geology and science library offers another quiet corner to explore. We spent time reading about how different rocks form before wandering through cases filled with glittering minerals we had never seen or even heard of. Fossils are scattered throughout as well, including one exhibit containing a prehistoric nest of dinosaur eggs.

The collection itself began with Thomas Byrd and Nellie Gillespie, who became fascinated with minerals after seeing a collection while traveling in the Pacific Northwest. Over the following decades, their hobby grew into an extensive collection with the help of respected mineralogists. In 1958, they donated a significant portion of it to Stetson University and continued supporting the museum and adding specimens for years afterward.

Plan Your Visit

The Gillespie is completely free to visit, with donations accepted to support educational programming. Regular hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with one Science Saturday each month offering additional family-friendly activities. Monthly Science Cafés bring scientists and the community together for relaxed conversations about environmental and scientific topics.

Because the museum follows Stetson’s academic calendar, it closes during university holidays and summer break, making the start of the school year the perfect time to rediscover it. This fall also brings seasonal exhibits, including the newest exhibit of Spooky Stones opening on October 2, featuring some of the mineral world’s strangest and most mysterious specimens.

For a quick drive, free admission, and an afternoon spent learning and exploring without the usual museum chaos, the Gillespie hidden gem is absolutely worth digging up.

Gillespie Museum at Stetson University

234 E Michigan Ave, DeLand, FL 32724

(386) 822-7330 | Stetson.edu

Tue - Fri: 10 AM - 4 PM | FREE admission

FB: @GillespieMuseum | Insta: @gillespie_museum

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