The roots of the Burke Museum can be traced to a natural history club formed by high school students in the 19th century.

Under Johnson's direction, the Young Naturalists began expanding this nucleus of specimens and artifacts, which were stored in a backroom of the Denny home.

[6] A permanent structure to house the growing collection was built on the Territorial University's campus in 1886, with the club soliciting donations to fund its construction.

He led a revitalization of the group that he had helped found a decade before, bringing in new members, including women.

Persistent leaks in that facility caused it to later relocate to the fair's former Forestry Building which, it was soon discovered, was infested with bark beetles.

[4] The situation was finally resolved in 1927 when the museum moved into what had originally been constructed as the Washington State Building for the AYP Expo.

[4] In 1996, the museum launched a ten-year plan to move its exhibition space off campus and into a downtown Seattle location.

Under the proposal, curators and preservationists would continue to work at the University of Washington while exhibits would be hosted at a new site.

[13] The new building, designed by UW alum Tom Kundig, features large windows into research areas to showcase parts of the collection that were not previously exhibited.

[15] The museum houses more than 16 million artifacts and specimens in its anthropology, biology, and geology research divisions.

"[17] Prior to its temporary closure in 2018, the museum displayed three long-term exhibits: "Life and Times of Washington State", "Pacific Voices", and "Treasures of the Burke".

"[20] The museum reopened in its new building on October 12, 2019, with several new exhibits:[13] "Culture is Living", "Northwest Native Art", "Amazing Life", "Our Material World", and "Fossils Uncovered".

[21] In "Culture is Living", patrons can engage with objects past and present and hear from community across the Pacific.

The budget did not include substantial in-kind support provided by the University of Washington as owner of the Burke property.