THE MAN WITH DINOSAUR SKELETONS IN HIS BASEMENT

The story of Dave Douglass and his record-breaking fossil and rock collection

Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop is pictured above, located in Evanston, IL. Photography by James Ali, courtesy of Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop.

Not many couples can say they went fossil hunting on their first date. For Dave and Sandy Douglass, their first introduction simultaneously marked the start of what led to a 47-year-long (and counting) marriage and prompted their global search for Native American jewelry, crafts, rocks, minerals, carvings — and even dinosaur bones.

At only 20-years-old, Dave Douglass opened Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop in 1970 at 1312 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, Illinois. However, his passion for collecting began over a decade prior, at the age of 8, when a cousin brought back a leaf fossil from his travels in Iraq.

“I had always been very interested in dinosaurs, you know, as most kids are. But I was a little more interested than most,” said Douglass, who retired as owner of the store in 2008. “I kept a card file with all the different geologic time periods and what dinosaurs were when and so forth.”

Fishing vacations to Wisconsin were left behind for fossil hunting on coal mine strips when Douglass’ interests sparked a family outing from their home in Western Springs to Coal City, Illinois.

“[Vacations] changed to going out to South Dakota and Wyoming for fossils and stopping in every rock shop across the country to see what they had,” said Douglass. “The fishing was given up at the start.”

Out of curiosity, the Douglass family brought some of the fossils they found to the Field Museum to learn more information about their finds. Scientists and collectors began to pay personal visits to the family, and fossils discovered by the Douglasses were displayed in the museum and named after them.

“They wanted us to bring stuff that we found here because we were finding new things that had never been found before,” said Douglass.

At the start of Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop, they primarily sold rocks and minerals, most of which came from his family’s collection.

“A lot of years on the shop floor didn't make much money, but it was something I loved,” said Douglass.

One year after opening the shop, Dave met Sandy. The couple’s mutual love for rocks and fossils prompted many national and international trips. From western United States to South America and across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, they added to the store’s collection of Native American jewelry, crafts, rocks, minerals and carvings.

As their private collection grew in size, the pair felt it should be displayed for the public to enjoy. In 1987, Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop was moved to 704 Main Street, which had the added benefit of a basement for displaying the vast collection they had amassed.

The David and Sandra Douglass Prehistoric Life Museum opened to the public in the basement of the store and is currently renowned for being one of the largest private collections on display for free to the public in the United States.

Dave (pictured on the right) and Sandy Douglass (pictured on the left), posing with their fossil findings shortly after the opening of The David and Sandra Douglass Prehistoric Life Museum. Photography by James Ali, courtesy of Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop.

The museum features fossils from every single geological time period dating back to Precambrian times three billion years ago and fossils from areas across the globe: a cave bear skeleton from France, insects in amber from Mexico, trilobites from the United States and Canada, fossil crabs from Italy and dinosaur skeletons from China.

The largest display of fossils from Mazon Creek, Illinois, is exhibited at the store, many of which were collected by Dave in his childhood years.

“It's not only fossils that we've collected, but also fossils that we've traded for. We've got a whole dinosaur skeleton, two foot dinosaurs and complete dinosaur eggs,” said Douglass.

In addition, they have a 600 pound dinosaur bone in the middle of the room that everybody can touch.

“I've known about this place for years but never ventured in until recently, and now I've been twice,” said Kate Samuels, a visitor of Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop.

When Samuels was a kid she would collect “rocks,” otherwise seen as crystals, because she thought they were pretty. After checking out Dave’s shop, she ended up always leaving with a new piece for her own collection.

“I felt like a kid again, and somehow ended up walking out with a smokey quartz point and an amethyst cluster on my first visit, and a selenite tower on my second,” Samuels says.

In the last decade, Douglass and Sandy have continued to add to the shop’s collection of fossils, minerals and artifacts. Now Sandy’s brother, James Ali, and his wife, Susanne, are the new store owner power duo.

“Dave was the founder, and we think we are Down to Earth. We sell what often comes from the Earth or is created by Mother Nature,” said James Ali. “We bought the store from them 10 years ago and have enjoyed learning from Sandy and Dave.”

Dave and Sandy continue to visit and contribute to the store, and they have continued on their 20-year-long tradition of attending the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

“I'm very fortunate that my hobby turned into my business so I loved my business, I loved working,” said Douglass.

A fossil of a cat skull, currently on display at Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop. Photography by James Ali, courtesy of Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop.