We made the list! Nineteen museums were nominated for the ‘Best Open
Air Museum in the Country’ and our Museum landed in the top ten…4th
to be exact! That is quite an accomplishment. The selection panel visited
more than 300 museums prior to making recommendations for nominations
in the various museum categories.
With the Museum’s opening every day beginning March 1, 2024, comes another fantastic
exhibit in Orthwein, this time the “Museum Milestone Makers.” The Museum Milestone
Makers exhibit showcases vehicles to take you over land or water, on two wheels or four,
with horsepower under the hood or in front pulling. A little something for everyone.
“It encompasses various forms of transportation,” Curator Coby Ellison said of this year’s
exhibit at The William R. and Laura Rand Orthwein Education and Visitor Center. And it
spans TNMOT’s 80 years of collecting history, including the very first artifact acquired in
1944 and the most recent vehicle donated at the end of 2023.
The Bellefontaine Railway Mule Car #33, built in the 1870s, was the first piece acquired
for the Museum. Dr. John Roberts and a few friends rescued it 80 years ago from where
it was stored in downtown St. Louis by United Railways and St. Louis Public Service Co.
Mules pulled this car, built by the Andrew Wight Company, between downtown St. Louis
and Bellefontaine in north St. Louis County until 1895. Passengers entered through the
rear door and paid a nickel fare. The driver was paid nine-and-a-half cents per hour.
A 1967 Plymouth Barracuda is the most recent Museum acquisition. Ellison received
the donation in December 2023. The Barracuda line started in 1964 as Chrysler’s entry in
the new “pony car” market, sporty compact cars. Some at Plymouth wanted to call the
car “Panda,” but designers objected, according to an online article by designer John
“Dick” Samsen. “Barracuda” was one of the names designers suggested. The 1967 model
was the first in Barracuda’s second-generation design.
A 1957 Cruisers ski boat provides a marine element to the exhibit and gives a nod to a
century of water skiing, a sport begun in 1922. Cruisers, Inc. started manufacturing
wooden boats in 1953 in Oconto, Wisconsin. In the 1960s, Cruisers, Inc. owners were not
eager to switch to fiberglass, believing that wood was superior, but they finally
switched materials, and in 1993, the company became Cruisers Yachts.
The 1917 Indian Motorcycle Powerplus was donated to the Museum in 2023 by a couple
in Utah who used to ride motorcycles with actor Steve McQueen. An Indian motorcycle
prototype was built in 1901, and Indian cycles were the industry leader until World War I,
when the Hendee Manufacturing Company, which produced Indian motorcycles, sold
most of its Powerplus line to the U.S. military. With little Indian inventory at dealerships,
customers turned to competitors, such as Harley-Davidson, and Indian never really
recovered its prominence, though it continued to innovate and produce motorcycles
until 1953. Indian’s Scout and Chief models were particularly popular. After production
of Indian motorcycles ceased in 1953, the Indian name bounced around various
companies, eventually reemerging as Indian Motorcycle Co. in 2006, which was
purchased by Polaris in 2011.
The Doctor’s Buggy on display was built around the turn of the 20th century by Banner
Buggy Company of St. Louis, one of the largest horse-drawn vehicle manufacturers in the
United States. The company never moved into manufacturing Banner automobiles,
Though it announced plans to do so in 1910. Banner did produce automobile bodies for
Chevrolet beginning in 2015, and Banner owner Russell E. Gardner did start producing
cars after World War I under his own name, with his sons. The Gardner Motor Company
operated until 1931.
A 1919 Studebaker Special Six is making its TNMOT exhibit debut. “It’s a really beautiful
car that we’ve never had on exhibit before,” Ellison said. The Special Six was Studebaker’s
mid-range model from 1918 to 1926. Another beautiful car on display has a connection to
1944, the Museum’s founding year. A key player in the “Streetcar Series” of 1944 between
the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns was Stan Musial, and his 2000 Cadillac
Seville, the last new car he purchased, is a popular Museum artifact.
Rounding out the exhibit are the Museum’s oldest artifact, the 1833 Boston & Providence
Railroad Coach, and a look at the future through the 2020 Virgin Hyperloop XP-2 Pegasus
Pod.
Car Facts – Car #10:
BUILT: 1914.
BUILDER: St. Louis Car Company.
TYPE: Wooden with steel sheathing.
CLAIM TO FAME: Last wooden body streetcar to run in St. Louis.
DONATED TO TNMOT: 1957, along with cars #11 and 17.
Source: St. Louis Water Works Railway, by Bill Cordes.
The National Museum of Transportation is nominated as a Best Open Air Museum by USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice – 2024.
The Museum houses ‘one of the largest and best collections of transportation vehicles in the Country,’ according to representatives from the Smithsonian Institution.
“We are honored by this recognition,’ stated Terri McEachern, Executive Director. “We are proud of our campus and collection of artifacts dating back to the mid-1800s. Two of our most recent acquisitions include the first F/A-18 E1 Super Hornet and the Virgin Hyperloop XP-2 Pegasus Pod direct from the Smithsonian Institution’s Futures Exhibit.”
The USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards highlight top-notch attractions and businesses providing readers with trusted recommendations. To vote visit https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-open-air-museum-2024/ Voting ends on Monday, February 12, 2024, at 11:59 EST.
The National Museum of Transportation, 2933 Barrett Station Road, St. Louis, MO, is a 501(c)(3) organization relying solely on the generosity of the community to continue preserving the past for future generations. For additional information visit tnmot.org.
As portrayed in the movie, “The Flying Irishman,” Douglas Corrigan was a Texan of Irish descent who helped prepare the Spirit of St. Louis for Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic. He wanted to make his own transatlantic flight, to Ireland, and did so despite many obstacles. His claims that he “accidentally” misread the compass and had flown east instead of west earned him the moniker, Wrong Way Corrigan.
Upon his return to the U.S., Corrigan was celebrated in ticker-tape parades in New York and Chicago that exceeded the welcome of Lindbergh after his feat. Corrigan’s involvement with the modifications made to the Spirit of St. Louis to accomplish the miraculous flight to Paris, France, several of which Corrigan applied to his own patchwork plane, aided the successful, though unsanctioned, flight to Dublin in 1938.
Santa was joyously transported via helicopter on Saturday, November 25, 2023, to The National Museum of Transportation to greet excited families and devoted fans! Gregg Adam of Independent Aviation Solutions LLC agreed to fly in Santa to TNMOT in what has become one of our grandest attendance days at the Museum. Missed it or want to watch Santa’s arrival again? Go here to Gregg’s YouTube channel and get a bird’s eye view.
The Museum’s Big Truck Day was a really BIG Success. Thanks to all who came out to visit, and to those who bought the big rigs! Here’s a video with Tim Ezell and our very own Jessica Hood covering some of the trucks that shared that day with us and with our guests.
As set-up was underway for the Museum’s Big Trucks and Acoustic Music Festival 2023 weekend, Tessa Wasserman was working her magic decorating for the fall event.
Tessa and our exceptional landscaping volunteers put a little pumpkin patch behind the auto building last spring. Some of the beautiful decorations for this end of September 2023 weekend’s event came directly from the fruits of their labor!
Many have asked about plants taking over TNMOT’s pond.
They look like a type of water lily, but they are actually
American Lotus. The Latin name is Nelumbo lutea.
Other common names include yellow lotus or
water-chinquapin. It is native to North America
but is an aggressive spreader. The flowers are the
largest in our country growing up to 11 inches in
diameter. The roots are anchored in the mud but the
leaves and stems grow above water 2.5-5 feet.
The Native Americans used the tuberous rhizomes
and seeds for food, effectively spreading the plant north.
The seeds are also eaten by waterfowl and have the
nickname “alligator corn.” Beavers and muskrat eat
the rhizomes keeping it in check. The leaves and stalks
provide protected habitat for fish, while turtles and
birds hunt among them. Bees and butterflies love the
flowers. The dried seed heads are often used in
arrangements.
The Merchants’ Bridge Sign looks beautiful! Thanks to Jim Adams, John Rastorfer, Coby Ellison, and Ace Eaton for getting and preserving the donation and then installing the 1300+ pound sign at The National Museum of Transportation. Here is a really nice video that explains the historical significance to the region of the Merchants’ Bridge.
Additionally, now that the final truss has been put in place to complete the rebuilding of the Merchants’ Bridge rail bridge north of downtown, a key piece of St. Louis’s transportation infrastructure has greater utility to support our community.
The National Museum of Transportation receives no governmental funding and relies solely on the generosity of our community to continue preserving the past for future generations.
We would love for you to consider donating toward items or programs that we are in need of funding for!
