Toward the end of the 19th century, an aborted attempt was made by J. A. Gamble, the conservator of forests for Madras Presidency, to establish a forest museum in the province. A few years later in 1902, Gamble’s successor as Conservator of Forests Horace Arichibald Gass succeeded in establishing a museum for forestry. It was opened to the public 15 April 1902 by Baron Ampthill, the then Governor of Madras, at that point simply referred to as the Forest Museum at Coimbatore. When Gass, the first curator, retired in 1905, his successor F. A. Lodge renamed the museum in his honor. It was expanded in 1905 and 1915. In 1912, the Madras Forestry College (currently the Tamil Nadu Forest Academy) was established in the museum grounds to train foresters.