Steinhart Aquarium opened its doors in Golden Gate Park on September 29, 1923, drawing more than 5,000 visitors on its very first day. Named for benefactor Ignatz Steinhart, it quickly became one of the country’s premier aquariums, earning early distinctions as the first public aquarium to display flashlight fish and coconut octopuses.
Today the aquarium operates as part of the California Academy of Sciences, which reopened in a striking Renzo Piano-designed building in 2008 after a major rebuild. Steinhart now houses nearly 60,000 live animals representing more than 800 species, anchored by the massive Philippine Coral Reef tank and a beloved colony of African penguins.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California
- Opened: September 29, 1923
- Rebuilt: 2008 (new Academy building)
- Size: 212,000-gallon Philippine Coral Reef tank (signature exhibit)
- Species/Animal Count: About 60,000 animals, 800+ species
- Annual Visitors: About 1.34 million (California Academy of Sciences overall)
- Famous For: Methuselah, the world’s oldest aquarium fish on record
A Century of Firsts in Golden Gate Park
Since opening in 1923, Steinhart Aquarium has built a reputation for pioneering exhibits. Curator Alvin Seale’s 1928 discovery that brine shrimp made excellent aquarium fish food became standard practice industry-wide, and the aquarium was among the first in the world to successfully display delicate species like flashlight fish. The original building survived decades in the park before the entire California Academy of Sciences campus was rebuilt and reopened in 2008 as one of the greenest museums on Earth, complete with a 2.5-acre living roof.
Inside the Philippine Coral Reef
The aquarium’s centerpiece is the 25-foot-deep Philippine Coral Reef, a 212,000-gallon tank stocked with roughly 2,500 fish and hundreds of coral colonies representing about 150 fish species and 100 coral species. Visitors can also meet Methuselah, an Australian lungfish believed to be around 92 years old, and watch the resident African penguin colony, part of an active Species Survival Plan breeding program run in coordination with accredited zoos and aquariums nationwide.
Explore more: more zoos and aquariums worth visiting.
Steinhart Aquarium FAQs
When did Steinhart Aquarium open?
Steinhart Aquarium opened to the public in Golden Gate Park on September 29, 1923.
Is Steinhart Aquarium part of a larger museum?
Yes, it operates as part of the California Academy of Sciences, which was rebuilt and reopened in its current form in 2008.
What is the biggest exhibit at Steinhart Aquarium?
The Philippine Coral Reef is the aquarium’s largest exhibit, a 212,000-gallon, 25-foot-deep tank filled with thousands of fish and coral colonies.
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Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.