The Mitchell Dinosaur & Fossil Museum is a collection that started in about 1954 when J.D. Mitchell began collecting fossils as a boy. For many years the collection was dormant. Then, after becoming a creationist in 1984 and accepting Christ, J.D.’s interest was rekindled due to the connection between fossils and the Genesis Flood described in the Bible. Additional interest due to his founding of Creation Engineering Concepts in 2004 led to the development of the Mitchell Traveling Dinosaur & Fossil Museum that was shown to many at various Pacific Northwest locations including Institute for Creation Science meetings held in Gresham and Portland, Oregon.
By 2010 the traveling museum was discontinued and the museum began taking over a room in the Mitchell home. During the period 2014 -2017 many additional items were added as a result of J.D.’s research for his books Guidebook to North American Dinosaurs According to Created Kinds and Fossils: Description & Interpretation within a Biblical Worldview.
Then in March of 2021 the Mitchell Dinosaur & Fossil Museum (DFM) collection was donated by the Mitchells to the Mount St. Helens Creation Center (MSHCC) in Castle Rock, Washington. Included in the donation was not only hundreds of fossils, replicas, models, and artifacts, but also the interpretive signage and the necessary exhibit display cases etc. The MSHCC would be responsible for providing a DFM room inside the center as a part of the donation agreement.
Mount St. Helens Creation Center
Mount St. Helens Creation Center Location Map
The featured display at the new DFM in Castle Rock will be a full-size skeleton of the dinosaur Velociraptor shown below.
Velociraptor Skeleton
The majority of the items in the DFM will be displayed in twelve glass display cases inside the room. Look for more information on the DFM on this website and in articles in the CEC News that you can sign up for here.
J.D. Mitchell
