The Frisian Museum of Natural History was founded in 1923 by a group of nature lovers from Leeuwarden. The museum is presently housed in the Niewstat Weeshuis, a historical building that served as an orphanage from 1675 to 1958. The museum is devoted to the local environment, and has displays covering a variety of subjects. Visitors learn about local plant and animal life, farming (including how to milk a cow), and even get to see a skeleton of a sperm whale that was beached in 1994.