Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Symbols
Introduction
1. Better in the Poconos
Bill's Old Bike Barn, Bloomsburg
Houdini Tour and Show, Scranton
White Christmas Chalet and Tree Farm, Slatington
Yuengling Brewery, Pottsville
Zane Grey Museum, Lackawaxen
2. Around the City of Brotherly Love
Boyertown Museum of Historical Vehicles, Boyertown
Christian Sanderson Museum, Chadds Ford
The Insectarium, Philadelphia
Lost Highways Museum, Philadelphia
Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Doylestown
Mummers Museum, Philadelphia
Museum of Mourning Art, Drexel Hill
Richard Allen Museum, Philadelphia
Shoe Museum, Philadelphia
Wharton Esherick Museum, Valley Forge
3. Deep in the Lower Susquehanna Valley
Bob Hoffman Weightlifting Hall of Fame and Museum, York
First National Bank Museum, Columbia
Kready's Country Store Museum, Lititz
Le Petit Museum of Musical Boxes, Marietta
New Holland Band Museum, New Holland
The Toy Robot Museum, Adamstown
4. Heart of the Alleghenies
Gardners Candies, Tyrone
Grice's Clearfield Community Museum, Clearfield
Horseshoe Curve, Altoona
Johnstown Flood Museum, Johnstown
Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum, Ortanna
Pasto Agricultural Museum, State College
Rockhill Trolley Museum, Rockhill Furnace
5. Iron City Environs
Coal and Coke Heritage Center, Uniontown
George Westinghouse Museum, Wilmerding
Jimmy Stewart Museum, Indiana
Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh
Photo Antiquities, Pittsburgh
6. Heading for Lake Erie
John Brown Museum, New Richmond
Vocal Groups Hall of Fame and Museum, Sharon
Wild West Museum, Franklin
7. Top of the World
Eldred World War II Museum, Eldred
Ole Bull Museum, Oleana
Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, Galeton
Piper Aviation Museum, Lock Haven
Tom Mix Birthplace and Museum, Driftwood
Zippo Visitors Center, Bradford
Photo Credits
Appendix: Other Small Museums Mentioned
Therese Boyd is a (nearly) lifelong Pennsylvanian. When she's not driving the back roads looking for somewhere fun or writing about where she's been, she edits books, writes book reviews, and teaches writing at Penn State York.
“Although the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with its famous Rocky
staircase and Thomas Eakins masterpieces, is a must-see for most
Keystone State visitors, the rest of the state’s museums are
largely unknown to outsiders. Writer Boyd has visited small museums
throughout Pennsylvania and found 42 she says are worth detouring
for; she details these little gems in this handy guide organized by
region. In the Poconos, visitors should check out the Houdini Tour
and Show, where they can see the padlocks the great escapist used,
or Yuengling Brewery, dubbed ‘America’s Oldest Brewery.’ While
trucking through the Alleghenies, drivers might make a pit stop at
Mr. Ed’s Elephant Museum, a nondescript wooden building that
features a range of ‘elephantania,’ from plaster elephants to
elephant salt and pepper shakers. And in an around Philly, there’s
the Mummers Museum, which pays tribute to the city’s version of
Mardi Gras; the Shoe Museum (displaying South African clogs and a
size 18 shoe); and more. It’s a quirky travel guide that will
undoubtedly be a godsend to anyone faced with a long drive on Route
80.”—Publishers Weekly
“Boyd’s descriptions of the museums (which run no longer than a
page or two), combine her conversational writing style and a
well-balanced mix of background information, personal observations
and anecdotes, and make for a quick and often humorous read.”—Robin
Crawford Centre Daily Times (CDT)
“Pennsylvania’s many small museums would otherwise feature objects
that would otherwise be thrown away and forgotten—everything from
spittoons to high-button shoes and trolley cars. Some small
museums, such as the Richard Allen Museum, serve a serious purpose;
others are playful, even eccentric. All offer a fresh perspective
on how people have lived and worked.Boyd’s book is a comprehensive,
illustrated guide to the best small museums in Pennsylvania. It
weaves amusing anecdotes about Boyd’s own visits to the museums
along with descriptions of their histories and collections. Her
guide provides travel directions as well as complete information
about each museum’s visiting hours, web site and contact
information.”—Gazette News
“Part travel guide, part tales of the road, Therese Boyd’s The Best
Places You’ve Never Seen: Pennsylvania’s Small Museums. . . takes
the reader on a journey through some of the state’s more
interesting, lesser-known museums.”—Pocono Record
“Part diary, part history lesson, part coolest travel brochure
you’ll ever come across; this book does what a good travel guide is
supposed to do: make you forget that you’re reading a travel
guide.Boyd has succeeded in assembling a volume that could very
well make more than a few readers want to cast aside their domestic
chores and embark on that road trip they’ve been planning in their
minds for years.”—David O’Connell Dispatch
“Think about it. You travel in your air-conditioned car to some of
the cooler museums for just a day trip away from home. Who could
ask for a better summer vacation than that?”—George Robinson
Yardley, PA News
“Boyd’s writing style is enjoyably breezy, as well, showing
surprise and sometimes disappointment. Put down the TV remote,
power down your computer, put some gas in the tank and head in any
direction. The Best Places You’ve Never Seen call out to be seen.
In person.”—David Sallinger McKeesport Daily News
“In a friendly style, tinged with wit, she deftly distills the
essence of each museum in a short essay and succinctly provides the
nuts and bolts things, such as directions, hours and cost.”—Michael
Snyder Mercury
“Who knew that one small book could make such big waves?But Boyd’s
book does more than just tell the tale of one woman, and her
occasional companions, in search of history, fun and collectibles.
The book is complete with directions, phone numbers, web sites and
other information to let the reader become their own tour guide, to
experience the state’s tiny treasures.”—Michelle Pittman Republican
and Herald
“Though her book—her first—contains all the details and photographs
necessary to be a useful guide, Boyd’s amusing storyteller’s
approach to chronicling her visit to each site conveys much more
about its subjects, and its author, than a utilitarian tour
guide.Boyd’s stories are a pleasure for the armchair traveler but
many may find themselves itching to get on the road for
themselves.”—Marion Winik Baltimore Sun
“A good general rule is that only when the guide is Mark Twain or
Rose Macauley does the reader welcome learning more about the guide
than the place. Ms. Boyd often flouts this rule, but by the end her
appreciation of the odd is contagious, and almost all is forgiven.
She genuinely likes the strong souls who mind the museums, and she
enlists the reader in her cause. Her approach is regional, and the
selections are charmingly diverse.”—Jeffrey S. Wood Cumberland
County History
“This is a very cool book. . . . Take the book, get a road map,
pile the kids into the SUV, and do a weekend ramble. Heck, do lots
of weekend rambling to all 40 of the Best Places You’ve Never Seen.
The book’s fun by itself, and the destinations are all plucky and
gritty.”—Ted Byrne Lancaster Business 2 Business
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