All images courtesy of Smithsonian magazine.
September 4, 2026: Ever wonder what happened to the smart-mouthed kid from Jurassic Park, pooh-poohing the supposed “scariness” of a velociraptor? 11-year-old Anderson Taylor might actually be that kid. The precocious youngster with a prehistoric appetite for knowledge opened the Cambridge Natural History Museum in Cambridge, Ill., on August 10, 2024. Meaning at just 9 years and 340 days, Taylor became the youngest male curator of a museum. In July of this year, Guinness World Records acknowledge the incredible feat.
Taylor found his love for fossils at quite an early age. “Back when I was around 3 years old,” Taylor told Smithsonian, “I was watching a show on dinosaurs, and I decided that I wanted to go find some fossils.” When his budding curiosity led him outside to the family driveway, he discovered a fossil in his yard shortly after. From that moment, a lifelong affection for paleontology was born.
It was during a family trip to Scotland, though, that really jumpstarted his interest in creating his own home for natural history. Coming across a small Scottish museum planted a very powerful seed. When the family came back home, Taylor got started, collecting fossils from around Cambridge. He even enlisted his friends, and the group would explore a limestone gravel playground for more evidence of ancient animals.
So at the age of 7, Taylor got to work planning a dedicated space for his personal collection. He also saw it as an opportunity to educate others about the natural world. Multiple presentations to city officials later, this enterprising young scientist secured a municipal grant, which provided the initial funding and put him well on his path. Crowdfunding allowed the family to purchase the building.
Located in downtown Cambridge, the museum has added some spark to the community. In fact, Locals have donated their own artifacts, bringing the collection to an admirable near 1,000 items. The collection includes fossils, minerals, Native American artifacts, and taxidermy animals. Now visitors numbering in the hundreds come from across the region. “Now we’ve got around 13 displays, and we’re always getting more,” Taylor told Smithsonian.
A main feature of the museum, three Tully monsters (Tullimonstrum), illustrate the natural wonders of Illinois–the Tully monster is widely known as the Illinois state fossil. As for Taylor’s personal favorites, he claims an opalized dinosaur bone and a mastodon femur as particularly special parts of the collection.
The community support and Taylor’s own passion means there are already plans for expansion in the future. “We can probably end up expanding our building outwards and build on a whole new section,” he said. “Plans always are changing, so if it does change, we’ll have to find a new way.”
The prepubescent paleontologist does more than host the museum’s on-site tours. He delivers presentations to local school groups. Corrina Sprung, one of the Taylors’ next-door neighbors, told Smithsonian, “His passion is contagious… It’s like his museum has more than the borders of the walls.” Another community member, Logan Meier, who works with Anderson’s father, had this to say about the young man’s dedication to his passion: “I love that he brought this to our small community. It gives people something to look forward to when it’s open, something that can bring their kids to, to maybe learn a thing or two.”
The Bright Side
You are never too young (or too old) to explore your passions. If we lean in a little bit every day to those things that truly call to us, we most definitely will find a way to spread that joy to others. Anderson Taylor’s passion is contagious, and his love of natural history propelled him to really go for it. If something truly brings you joy, there’s no limit to how far your dedication to that joy will take you.
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