Main Street Museum facts for kids
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| Established | December, 1992 (built before 1893) |
|---|---|
| Location | 58 Bridge Street, White River Junction, Vermont, United States |
| Visitors | Approximately, 2000/year |
| Public transit access | Amtrak, bicycle |
| Governance | Beneficent Committee/Non-profit, 501c03 |
The Main Street Museum is a super unique place in White River Junction, Vermont. It's a museum that shows off all kinds of interesting objects, and it's also a group that helps the community.
This museum is a bit like the old "cabinet of curiosities" from hundreds of years ago. These were collections of strange and wonderful things. The Main Street Museum shows how museums first started, but it also uses new technology. For example, it lists all its items and shares information online using its own Wiki website.
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Discover the Main Street Museum
The Main Street Museum was started in 1992 by David Fairbanks Ford. It's located in an area of White River Junction called the Old South End.
What's Inside the Museum?
The museum has a really unique collection of objects. It might seem a bit random, but that's part of its charm! You can find all sorts of things, like:
- Plants and animals
- Special items from all over the world
- Things left behind by travelers
- Round objects
- Tangled objects
- Old journals
- Bits of local history
- Sheet music
- Postcard collections
- Devices that use electromagnetism
- Relics from the famous medical case of Phineas Gage
- Items related to Elvis impersonators
- Taxidermy (stuffed animals)
- And even some unusual biological items, like dehydrated cats!
The museum is a mix of old and new. It reminds us of those old "Wünderkammern" (cabinets of wonders) from the 1700s, but it's also very modern with its website. The Main Street Museum believes it was the first museum in the world to have a working blog, which started in 2005.
A Quirky and Welcoming Place
The Washington Post newspaper called the museum "quirky and avant-garde." This means it's unusual and very creative! All sorts of people visit, including local residents, scholars, musicians, artists, historians, and scientists. They come to see the museum's unique demonstrations, lectures, and fun events.
The museum is currently located in White River Junction's old fire station on Bridge Street. It's right next to the railroad underpass, by the White River. The museum has helped make downtown White River Junction a lively place again. It has also hosted famous musicians and travelers since 1999. The museum is currently working on publishing an old journal and a dictionary of Seminole words from Florida, dating back to the 1830s and 1840s.
The Catawiki: Museum's Online Catalog
In 2008, the museum started using Wiki software to create an online catalog called the "Catawiki." This catalog describes the museum's collections and its community activities. A big goal for the museum is to list every single item in its collection on this ongoing project.
