About H.M.S. Beagle

Who We Are, What We Do, and What We Sell

H.M.S. Beagle is a general interest science store located in Parkville, Missouri, only a few minutes from downtown Kansas City. We offer a variety of scientific and science-related products, educational toys and games, a strong and idiosyncratic science book stock (including locally relevant science books and field guides), telescopes and eyepieces, microscopes and slides (blank, prepared, and preparation materials), mineral and fossil specimens, lapidary supplies, rock tumblers and tumbling equipment, geology hammers and picks, laboratory glassware and plasticware, chemicals and chemistry sets, model rockets and motors, specimens for dissection and dissecting supplies, and much, much more!

We are a small staff of science enthusiasts with various areas of expertise, giving you answers to science questions that you are frankly unlikely to find equalled in most places.

We are also keenly interested in science education. Our Science Club, for children in Kindergarten through the 8th grade offers monthly meetings on a wide variety of science topics. And for adults, the Beagle Society provides those of us grown-ups with a lively intelligence and a keen mind a place in which to discuss a variety of science topics of the day.

H.M.S. Beagle: History

Our store opened in October, 2004, with the intent to serve the science needs and interests of the greater Kansas City area. Conceived by the owners, John and Carol Kuhns, as a small business to serve the needs of a scientifically-literate clientele and as a source for science education, it was modelled on businesses which John fondly remembered from the past, including the old Griffin's Apothecary shop, which used to grace downtown Kansas City's once-famous Petticoat Lane (11th Street). It was among the old wood and glass fixtures of this seemingly magical place that the seed of what was to become H.M.S. Beagle was sown.

To find out more about the early inspiration behind the establishment of H.M.S. Beagle, follow this link.

Since then, H.M.S. Beagle has been a destination of choice for scientifically-interested and curious people from around the Kansas City area, and beyond. Whether they come looking for a day out in historic Parkville, Missouri, or specifically to visit the Beagle, people have invariably come away from the shop with a unique experience.

At H.M.S. Beagle, we are interested in science. Our areas of expertise include astronomy, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, radio, and much more. These are the things that we enjoy, which makes it that much more of a pleasure to talk about them with you.

H.M.S. Beagle is one of the few places in the city to see and learn about telescopes, to purchase rock and mineral specimens, to find chemical glassware and the chemicals to react in it, and to find educational toys which will expand the curious mind, young or old. Named after the Royal Navy survey vessel on which a young Charles Darwin sailed on his own voyage of discovery, the Beagle name is the ideal metaphor for expanding your horizons, and those of your family and friends.

In July 2008, H.M.S. Beagle won the KC Magazine Top Ten Best of Kansas City award. Just to surpass ourselves, we won the same award again in 2009. Please accept our sincere thanks to everyone who voted!

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.

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