American Heritage Museum facts for kids
 |
|
A Hetzer (German tank destroyer) at the museum
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Location | Stow, Massachusetts (entrance at 568 Main Street, Hudson, Massachusetts) |
| Type | Military museum |
The American Heritage Museum is a cool place in Stow, Massachusetts, about 21 miles (34 km) west of Boston. It's a museum all about military history. You can find over 100 amazing items here!
Many of these items used to be part of a huge collection in California. More than half of the things you'll see are from World War II. But the museum also shows items from World War I, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq War, and the War on Terror. Most of the tanks and other artifacts come from America, Germany, Russia, or Britain.
Contents
Discovering the Museum's History
How the Collection Started
The museum's story began in the early 1980s. A man named Jacques Littlefield, who was an engineer, started collecting military vehicles. Over 20 years, he gathered more than 240 vehicles! He also worked hard to fix them up and give tours to people.
Finding a New Home
When Mr. Littlefield passed away in 2009, he wanted his collection to be kept safe for the future. So, his collection was given to the Collings Foundation. This foundation is a non-profit group that works to save and show off transportation history.
The Collings Foundation sold about 120 of the vehicles. This helped them raise money to build a brand new museum. The new museum, which is about 69,000 square feet (6,400 square meters), was built to display the remaining 80 items.
Building the Museum
In 2015, there was a bit of a challenge. The town of Stow first said no to building such a big museum in a residential area. But the Collings Foundation explained that the museum would be for education. Eventually, they reached an agreement in 2017.
The museum was finished in 2018. It had a special preview opening in October 2018. Then, it officially opened its doors to everyone in May 2019.
Exploring the Exhibits
When you visit the American Heritage Museum, your adventure starts with a short film. This film helps you get ready for what you're about to see.
Stepping into History
After the film, you can walk through the "WWI Trench Experience" room. This room is like stepping back in time! It shows you what trenches were like during World War I. You'll see a recreation of trenches from the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. This was a big battle where the United States Army fought on its own for the first time in WWI.
Next, you enter the "War Clouds" room. Here, you'll watch a short movie. It talks about the time between the two World Wars and how Nazi Germany rose to power.
The Main Display Hall
After these special rooms, you'll go into the main part of the museum. Here, all the amazing artifacts are set up in order of when they were used. They are grouped by major wars and battles.
Special Displays
The museum also has some very unique items:
- A piece of the actual Berlin Wall. This wall used to divide East and West Berlin.
- A September 11 memorial. This features a twisted steel beam from one of the World Trade Center towers. This beam was placed at the museum on September 11, 2018.
- An exhibit about the Hanoi Hilton. This opened in 2023 and uses real materials from the original building.
Amazing Collection of Vehicles
The American Heritage Museum has a huge collection of military vehicles and artifacts. Here are just a few of the cool things you can see:
The museum has many more vehicles and artifacts from different wars, including:
- Tanks like the Panzer V "Panther" (the only one on display in North America!) and the famous T-34 from the Soviet Union.
- Landing crafts like the LCVP “Higgins Boat” used on D-Day.
- Specialized vehicles like the Churchill Crocodile flame thrower tank.
- Modern tanks such as the M1A1 Abrams, which was hit by bombs in Iraq.
- Even robots like the QinetiQ TALON and iRobot PackBot from the War on Terrorism.
See also
- Tank museums
- The Tank Museum – England
- Imperial War Museum – England
- Kubinka Tank Museum – Russia
- Musée des Blindés – France
- Military museum Lešany – Czech Republic
- Deutsches Panzermuseum – Germany
- Yad La-Shiryon – Latrun, Israel
- Parola Tank Museum – Finland
- Australian Armour and Artillery Museum – Australia
- Nationaal Militair Museum – Soesterberg, The Netherlands
- Royal Tank Museum – Amman, Jordan
- Base Borden Military Museum - Canada
- American military museums
- The International Museum of World War II – Natick, Massachusetts (closed)
- National Museum of the Pacific War – Fredericksburg, Texas
- National World War I Museum and Memorial – Kansas City, Missouri
- The National WWII Museum – New Orleans, Louisiana
- National Museum of the Marine Corps - Triangle, Virginia
- Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles – Lexington, Nebraska
- Other resources
- Lists of armoured fighting vehicles
- List of military vehicles of World War II
- Tank classification
