mercer museum

I was overwhelmed by all I saw at this place. Tons of stuff and tons of dust. My favorite part was the general store. I felt like I could start shopping right away! Overall felt like a man museum with tools and guns and torture devices and things. There were a few things for children and I thought the museum had some creative ways to get older children involved like looking for hearts or other themed items.

This museum is a tribute to a true obsessive named Henry Mercer. He was determined to memorialize in a museum all of the tools/products of pre-industrial age America. And he did. You name the function, the occupation, or avocation, and the Mercer Museum has 'em. Some of the huge exhibits, including stagecoaches, fire wagons, carriages, and the like, are mounted from the ceilings. There's a more-or-less lifesized fully-equipped general store. While the museum entrance is in a modern user-friendly space, the bulk of the museum resides in a huge seven-story castle (Fonthill Castle) that looms over Doylestown.Fittingly topping off (or is that lopping off?) the seventh floor of the museum is...a gallows. As others have noted, the castle is hardly climate-controlled. It was cold and clammy when we visited, and there were a couple of leaks. But, we've never seen anything like this place. We've lived in the Delaware Valley all our lives and never knew this museum existed. My wife and I both thoroughly enjoyed this experience. Bring the kids!

This solid concrete building is filled with items from the 1800 and early 1900's, including a whaling boat! It has a lot of interesting items and the historical society runs special exhibits once or twice a year. In April they will have a firefighting exhibit, complete with restored hose carts and wagons. Worth the stop if you have never been there.

We have been members of this museum for many years. We enjoy the rotating exhibits they have in the new addition. With this addition, it's like a big city museum in a small town.

Henry Chapman Mercer's collection of Americana is amazing from dolls to huge wagons. New addition offers excellent changing exhibits with interesting subjects.

A must see! The Castle is very moving.Henry Mercer was a resourceful man. And a very talented man. The castle is amazing with it's turns and twists. The Museum has many sights to see. His collection is extraordinary.

This place, by far, has the nicest collection around. Great history and amazing architecture. It is not heated or cooled so depending on the outside temp, be prepared. They may have close to a million pieces in the collection, ranging from guns to nails, to boats to carriages.

More tools than you will ever see in your entire life under one roof. Children as well as adults will be fascinated with 'how they did things in the olden days'. The many storied building is all concrete, using the technique that made Mercer his fortune.

My eldest boy and his good lady wife held their Wedding reception her and what a venue it turned out to be. All of the Guests were allowed to tour the Museum and the photos of the Bride and Groom, the Bridesmaids and Groomsmen both in the Museum and in the grounds were just magical. Well worth a visit even if you are not attending a wedding!

A friend took me here while visiting in Upper Bucks County! Loved the collections and history of the collections...even the building...dress warm in the winter!

Went on a Sunday 'road trip' from Jersey City with friends to visit this museum. Was not too sure about visiting but I'm so glad that I did as I found it fascinating. Also on display was a Christmas through the ages display which was very appropriate for the time of our visit and brought back memories of Christmas past! Lovely little town and countryside. Worth a visit.

What a wonderful place to lose yourself in for several days! My companion and I only had a few hours, but the mind-blowing collection that symbolizes the evolution of small industry will definetely pull us back for a longer stay and look-see! Friendly museum workers, adorable town.

The Mercer Museum is well worth a visit, but it is not designed according to modern concepts of exhibition space. A truly staggering and fascinating collection of tools,devices, artifacts and machinery is jumbled together in poorly-lit, unheated halls and cases. Most amazingly, some of the biggest objects (carriages, boats) are hung from walls and ceilings in the musty central hall. Henry Mercer had a magnificent obsession, and he did collect and conserve a whole universe of bygone craft items, representing the skills and trades that "built America".The conceit of a "castle" is silly. The architecture is a nonsensical configuration of crudely-poured concrete. The structure is much closer in spirit to Simon Rodia's Watt's Towers than to Neuschwanstein or Balmoral. Still, it is a lot of fun to roam up and down and around through the complex spaces.

The torture devices were interesting. I like how they had everything displayed. It is worth it to pay for a visit to this museum and the Fonthill Castle.

Just a short walk from the center of Doylestown and its train station stands a multi storied, earth-toned, poured concrete structure that is reminiscent of European chateaus. The rooms within contain a vast, eclectic assemblage of pre-industrial age Americana collected by Henry Mercer. Literally every inch of wall and ceiling is used to display this accumulation of antiques, creating an unusual museum experience. Wonderfully more akin to exploring a hoarder’s barn than a pristine orderly museum, a visit to Doylestown is not complete without a stop here.