Steggie Goes on a Road Trip

Steggie has served as the Museum's unofficial greeter for almost 15 years. But the sculpture located outside the Museum today was not the first Stegosaurus to stand watch over Wade Oval.

The Museum’s original Steggie was created by sculptors at Louis Paul Jonas Studios in Hudson, New York. In 1964, artists at Jonas Studios were commissioned to create a group of authentic life-sized dinosaur sculptures to be used at the New York World’s Fair. The studio created a 70-foot-long Brontosaurus, a 19-foot-high T. rex, and a 20-foot-long Stegosaurus, among others. In 1967, then Museum Director William Scheele commissioned Jonas Studios to create another realistic Stegosaurus model for Cleveland. On June 20, 1968, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History Women's Committee hosted an exclusive dinner to welcome the new Stegosaurus to town.

On Friday, March 25, 2016, Steggie, the Museum’s beloved Stegosaurus sculpture, departed for a short break from his usual post outside the Museum’s main entrance. An iconic Cleveland landmark and popular photo opportunity for generations of Museum visitors, Steggie was refurbished offsite and get an updated color scheme.