Open Monday - Friday 9 AM - 4 PM
Admission: Adults $5, Children 5 - 12 $3, Age 4 and Under - Free
About BEAR-OLOGY
Bear-Ology is an outgrowth of Tom Harrison’s
passion for North Carolina’s black bears. Tom is a local entrepreneur in
a small town in which residents often wear lots of different hats.
During his career, Tom has served as president of the Chamber of
Commerce, Downtown Development Assoc., Historical Society, Chairman -
and now Director - of the Washington County Travel & Tourism Authority.
As a lifelong outdoorsman, Tom has spent endless hours observing bears
in the wild. He has an extensive collection of black bear photographs,
which have been published in numerous magazines, newspapers and
brochures.
Tom was the engine behind the creation of the NC Black Bear Festival and
has served as Event Coordinator since it began in 2015. In its inaugural
year, the Bear Fest won four awards, including the Rising Star Award,
given to the best festival in the North Carolina that is 5 years old or
less. The success of the festival was the result of many volunteers and
organizations catching the vision and working together.
Having created the NC Black Bear Festival, Tom saw the need to have a
year-round black bear education facility so visitors could learn why we
have so many bears and why they weigh so much. Since Tom serves as the
Travel & Tourism Director, he saw a black bear museum as an opportunity
increase visitation to Plymouth and Washington County. So in the spring
of 2016, Tom opened Bear-Ology with its small state-of-the-art theatre,
interpretive center and workshop.