Main Street Museum

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Main Street Museum
USA Vermont location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Vermont
EstablishedDecember, 1992 (built before 1893)
Location58 Bridge Street, White River Junction, Vermont, United States
Coordinates 43°39′00″N72°19′08″W / 43.6499°N 72.3189°W / 43.6499; -72.3189
VisitorsApproximately, 2000/year
Public transit access Amtrak, bicycle
Website www.mainstreetmuseum.org
GovernanceBeneficent Committee/Non-profit, 501c03

The Main Street Museum is a museum and event space in White River Junction, Vermont. The museum is meant to evoke an 18th or 19th century cabinet of curiosities, and displays unusual and offbeat items, such as miniature shoes, unused keys, [1] of hair locks from former presidents. [2] It is also an event space, hosting drag events, [3] concerts, poetry readings, and artwork by local artists. On its website, the museum is described as "a repository of artifacts and a public performance space". [4]

Contents

The Fire Station Building, showing the main entrance to the museum, center, in 2008, by Aaron Almanza Firestationaaron08.jpg
The Fire Station Building, showing the main entrance to the museum, center, in 2008, by Aaron Almanza
The Happy Family or Fox and Rabbit. Both trickers and shape-shifter transgressors. Happyfamily08.jpg
The Happy Family or Fox and Rabbit. Both trickers and shape-shifter transgressors.

Overview

The Main Street Museum was founded in 1992 by career artist David Fairbanks Ford. The building is White River Junction's former fire station on Bridge Street, next to the railroad underpass on the banks of the White River. [5]

The museum's collections of material culture are seemingly unfocused. Its collection includes taxidermy, miniature shoes, keys collected by Ford, [1] Elvis Presley's gallstones, [6] hair clippings of former presidents, and dirt from outside of Charles Lindberg's house. [2] Many of the items came from the attics of Ford's relatives. [7]

One of the museum's main attractions is a working 1930 Æolean Stroud Pianola, which was donated during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The museum regularly holds performances of the pianola, and has 10,000 rolls of sheet music that it can play. [8]

The museum also serves as an event venue, hosting concerts, weddings, [8] screenings of science fiction films, and cabaret performances. [6] RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Sasha Velour performed at the museum prior to appearing on the show. [3] The museum also hosts art from local artists, including high school students. [9]

History

The museum was badly damaged by Hurricane Irene in 2011. [10]

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the museum took in no revenue and relied solely on a grant from the Vermont Arts Council to avoid closure. [11] After that, the museum became available on appointment only, or when hosting events. [11] [12]

Reception

In Weird New England, Joe Citro wrote that the museum "forces one to contemplate the nature of museums and curating. Why do we save what we save? How do we decide what to discard, what to display, what to hide away, and what to destroy." [13]

Frisbee of Tui, the dog, exhibited in a combined exhibition with Dartmouth College in 2003 Tuisfrisbee.jpg
Frisbee of Tui, the dog, exhibited in a combined exhibition with Dartmouth College in 2003

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 Polston, Pamela. "Main Street Museum Makes a Key Connection to St. Petersburg". Seven Days. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "The real deal? How an object plus a story may equal an artifact". Rutland Herald. November 23, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Drag queen Sasha Velour studied cartooning in White River. Now she's on a world tour". Vermont Public. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  4. "The Main Street Museum". mainstreetmuseum. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  5. "What's the secret to downtown revitalization? Ask White River Junction". Vermont Public. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Change coming for Main Street Museum, as committed volunteer pulls back". Valley News. December 18, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  7. Burge, Kathleen (December 3, 2006). "Oddball museums celebrate the unexpected". Boston Globe . Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  8. 1 2 "OUR PIANO". mainstreetmuseum. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  9. "Art Notes: Hartford High students express themselves in new Main Street Museum exhibit". Valley News. May 21, 2025. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  10. Cassidy, Maggie (July 10, 2023). "'A whole forest is floating down' the White River". VT Digger.
  11. 1 2 Nye, Reed (July 26, 2021). "Outdoors & Virtual: How the Pandemic Changed Vermont's Museums". Vermont Public Radio .
  12. Hakes, Sydney P. "From paintings to puppets: A guide to museums that are keeping Vermont weird". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  13. Citro, Joe (2006). Weird New England. New York: Barnes and Noble.
Msminterior2007.JPG
Interior view of the Museum showing the former "Big Bay" of the Fire Station, now the main gallery and reading room.