Niagara Falls Museum facts for kids

The Niagara Falls Museum was a famous museum located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It was started by Thomas Barnett way back in 1827. The museum moved several times and finally closed its doors in 1998. It's most famous for being the home of the mummy of Ramesses I for 140 years before it went back to Egypt in 2003.

The Museum's Beginning

Thomas Barnett opened the Niagara Falls Museum in 1827. He set it up at the bottom of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Before that, he had turned an old brewery into a place to show off his personal collection. Barnett's way of collecting was similar to older British museums, like the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The museum later moved to a new building in 1937.

What Was Inside the Museum?

When it first opened, the museum displayed Barnett's collection of stuffed animals. These were likely local animals and items from Native Canadian cultures. By 1844, the museum had over 5,000 items! These included many different animals, insects, shells, minerals, and Native American artifacts. For its first 50 years, the Barnett family kept adding similar items to the collection.

Exciting New Discoveries

In 1854, Barnett's son, Sydney, traveled to Egypt three times. He bought four mummies and other ancient Egyptian treasures for the museum. A few years later, in 1857, the bones of a mastodon were found in St. Thomas, Ontario. These huge bones were also brought to the museum. By 1859, the museum's collection included eggs, old and new coins, and items from Japan and China.

Wild West Shows and Whales

In 1872, Sydney Barnett planned a big Wild West Show. He wanted famous figures like Buffalo Bill Cody and Texas Jack Omohundro to lasso buffalo. He also hoped to have Pawnee Indians join a buffalo hunt. However, the U.S. government wouldn't let the Pawnee leave their reservation.

So, the show changed. "Wild Bill" Hickok, a famous scout, became the master of ceremonies. Local Woodland Indians from the Tuscarora and Cayuga nations helped with the show. The buffalo hunt didn't go as planned. The next year, the Barnetts bought the skeleton of a 40-foot humpback whale! Both Thomas and Sydney Barnett were skilled at preparing animal specimens for the museum and for sale.

New Owners and Art

Thomas Barnett faced financial difficulties in 1878. Saul Davis bought the museum and its contents that year. Four years later, the Niagara Parks Commission was created. This meant the museum had to move. After some searching, it moved back to Niagara Falls in 1888. In 1891, an art gallery was added to the museum. More Egyptian mummies and the entire collection from the Wood's Museum of Chicago were purchased. The museum even traded items with the famous showman P.T. Barnum.

Changes and Closing

In 1892, the museum stopped having live animal displays. This was because neighbors complained about the noise and smells. The museum also acquired items that had been shown at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. One highlight was a giant Sequoia tree, cut down in California in 1893. It was 77 feet around, one of the largest trees ever. The museum also received a collection of shells and corals from Louis Agassiz of Harvard University.

Thomas Barnett, the museum's founder, passed away in 1890. In 1942, Jacob Sherman bought the museum. He moved it to Niagara Falls, Ontario in 1958, where it stayed until it closed in 1998. The Sherman family owned the collection until 1999. Then, a collector named William Jamieson bought it, hoping to bring back Barnett's museum tradition.

People Connected to the Museum

The museum returned mummies to Zahi Hawass of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. Saul Davis bought the museum in 1878 and added an art gallery. The museum moved to the American side of Niagara Falls for a time. It moved back to the Canadian side when the U.S. parks authority took over the land it was on.

In 1999, the Sherman family sold the museum's collection to Canadian collector Billy Jamieson. He was a dealer of tribal art. In 2014, the Niagara Falls History Museum acquired part of the collection. This included Skipper, Barnett's beloved two-legged dog.

The Mummy of Ramesses I

In 1999, Billy Jamieson sold the Egyptian artifacts, including some mummies, to the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Among these was an unidentified male mummy. Through careful research with medical experts, museum scholars identified this mummy as the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses I. As a kind gesture of international cooperation, the museum returned the mummy to Egypt in 2003.