Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle

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The following is a description of the Mercer Museum in Doyletown, PA from their website.

By 1897 handmade objects were being discarded in favor of new machine-made goods. Historian and archaeologist Henry Mercer (1856-1930) recognized the need to collect and preserve the outmoded material of daily life in America before it was swept away by the Industrial Revolution. Mercer gathered almost 30,000 items ranging from hand tools to horse-drawn vehicles and assembled this encyclopedic collection in a system of his own devising. To enhance the collection's educational value, and to share it with the public, Mercer decided to design and build a museum to display the artifacts.

In 1916, Mercer erected a 6-story concrete castle. The towering central atrium of the Museum was used to hang the largest objects such as a whale boat, stage coach and Conestoga wagon. On each level surrounding the court, smaller exhibits were installed in a warren of alcoves, niches and rooms according to Mercer's classifications -- healing arts, tinsmithing, dairying, illumination and so on. The end result of the building is a unique interior that is both logical and provocative. It requires the visitor to view objects in a new way."

This museum contained an amazing amount of STUFF, very well organized stuff I have to say.

Fonthill Castle was Mercer's home for a few years and served as a showplace for his famed Moravian tiles produced during the Arts and Crafts Movement and also for his amazing tile collection which includes tiles from as far back as 2500 BC. Again from their website: "The building is an eclectic mix of Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles and is significant as an early example of poured reinforced concrete." The inside of the castle is just fascinating as just about everything is concrete with amazing friezes on the tops of all the columns as such touches as concrete chests. Unfortunately, one can't take photos inside. The tile factory is still manufacturing tiles which go all over the world. Unfortunately, we missed the tour.

Mercer was considered a true eccentric and a genius.

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Photos

vampire killing kit
This kit included a wooden stake, an ivory crucifix, flowers of garlic, silver bullets, and an "efficient" pistol. How handy!