The name "Montshire" is a portmanteau of "Vermont" and "New Hampshire".[1] It was cofounded in 1974 by Dr. Robert Chaffee, former Museum Director of the Dartmouth College Museum.
When the college museum closed, Chaffee and Walter Paine devised a community museum and education center, incorporating it as the Montshire. In 1976, Dartmouth College donated the collection of biological and geological collections to the new museum.[1][3]
The museum, including the building and nature trails, is located on over 100 acres (40ha) of land.[4] It has over 150 exhibits relating to the natural and physical sciences, ecology, and technology.[5] Its live animal exhibits include a hive of honeybees that is connected to the outdoors, a colony of leafcutter ants, and aquariums that feature life in local waters.[6]
Outside the museum building, there is a 3-acre (1.2ha) Science Park including a scale model of the Solar System (Pluto is located 2 miles (3.2km) away),[4] and interactive exhibits on water, light, sound, and motion. Among the sound exhibits there are "whisper dishes" (parabolic dishes 40 feet (12m) apart) and a musical fence built by Paul Matisse, grandson of painter Henri Matisse.[7][8] Each year, the museum holds an annual igloo build.[9]
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