Up in Doylestown, PA, in trendy and tony Bucks County, there sits an edifice very much like no other for miles around. Brainchild of old man Mercer, it’s a 6-story concrete monstrosity that was built to house nearly every piece of obtainable 19th Century Americana from hosepipe to harrow. Constructed in the early 20th C., it’s dark inside, virtually unheated and uncooled, and smells a bit like, well, 19th Century Americana. We made a trip up there in 2013 to get a bicycle that Melissa has bought via eBay, and decided to take in the museum while we were there. They actually have a decent visitor center, and free parking. Across the street, looking very much like Sing Sing or San Quentin, is a museum dedicated to author James Michener.
The place is somewhat disorganized, and it’s made up of five or six levels with all the little pieces of America that the owner collected during the 19th century – from every single tool that any blacksmith in the country would ever even think about using, to old medical implements, craftsman’s tools, architectural geegaws and knick-knackss, a stage coach, a canoe, and at least one whale boat straight out of Moby Dick.
After touring the inside, we felt like we’d spent ten hours in a hoarder’s cave. So we walked outside, and checked out the building from all angles.
Then we went home.