The museum was founded in 1933 by Francis A. Cook as a part of the Mississippi Game and Fish Commission.

Francis 'Fannie' Cook led a drive to found the Game and Fish Commission the 1920s, including traveling education exhibits at local and state fairs.

[1] Then in 1932, Cook wrote the state's first game laws, and became the museum's first director after the Commission was established by the legislature.

The museum is located in LeFleur's Bluff State Park and features aquariums, habitat exhibits, and nature trails specializing in the flora and fauna of Mississippi.

The museum also houses the state's systematic collections, containing more than a million specimens of fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, invertebrates, plants, and fossils.