Unknown photographer, Display of animals and fossils in McCoy Hall, c 1910, gelatin silver photograph, State Library of Victoria.

The Natural History Museum opened in 1854 at the Government Assay Office in La Trobe Street, but by 1856 had been transferred to the University of Melbourne by Frederick McCoy, a professor of natural science. Renamed the National Museum, it held significant natural history material gathered from all over the world. In 1899 the collection was transferred to the Public Library site and displayed in McCoy Hall.