Why Kenya's National Museum Moved Twice Before Finding a Permanent Home
The Nairobi National Museum traces back to 1910, when a group of naturalists under the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society needed a place to preserve their specimen collections. The Museum moved sites twice, first to what is now Nyayo House, then to a larger 1922 building where the Nairobi Serena Hotel now stands, before the colonial government set aside land at Museum Hill, officially opening on September 22, 1930, as the Coryndon Museum, named for a former colonial governor. It reopened under its current name in June 2008. Its Hall of Kenya, shaped like a gourd, houses tens of thousands of gourds collected from Kenya's various ethnic groups.
Why two relocations before 1930 reflect a genuinely growing collection
The museum moved twice in just two decades, and these documented relocations show a rapidly expanding specimen collection outgrowing each successive space, not administrative indecision.
Why the original colonial-governor name was later replaced
It was named the Coryndon Museum at its 1930 opening, and the later shift to "Nairobi National Museum" in 2008 reflects a genuine change in how the institution presents its identity, not a cosmetic rebrand alone.
Why the gourd-shaped Hall of Kenya is a deliberate architectural choice
Rather than a standard rectangular exhibition space, the Hall's distinctive shape is a deliberate design tied directly to its function housing gourds collected from across Kenya's ethnic groups.
What This Means for Planning a Visit
The practical takeaway is that the museum's site at Museum Hill has been its stable home since 1930, worth understanding this nearly century-long continuity at one location, in contrast to the earlier decades of relocation. Nairobi's own practical visiting details, including the genuine absence of elephants in the wider park, are covered on the city's main page.