Henry Chapman Mercer was an archaeologist, anthropologist and a real gentleman. In his youth he, like many young people of that time, went on a journey. His way lay up the river Ruhr, where Mercer was deeply impressed by the variety of Handicrafts and talent of artists. Then he made the important decision to keep the artifacts of the pre-industrial era to future generations.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mercer began to amass a collection of hand tools and other labor tools of the past. He believed that the history of human progress and achievements can be told through these simple, in fact, the objects that people once actively used in the work.
source: flickr.com/Curious Expeditions/CC
source: flickr.com/Curious Expeditions/CC
Mercer personally designed plans for the Museum to host his collection. As a result, in 1916 in Pennsylvania appeared a six-story Museum of reinforced concrete laid on site. In addition to tools, there you can also see antique furniture, carriages, a gallows, antique fire engines, a whaling ship, the Lenape stone, a set of vampire hunter and even this is not a complete list of all the unusual things of the Mercer Museum.
source: flickr.com/Curious Expeditions/CC
source: flickr.com/Curious Expeditions/CC
source: flickr.com/Curious Expeditions/CC
Concrete was chosen as the material for the construction of the Museum quite by chance. Only when Mercer began to collect artifacts, his aunt informed him that she owns a vast collection of medieval armor that perfectly fit in his motley collection. Mercer was delighted, as he wanted in his Museum the public could see not only relics of American history, but also exhibits from around the world. Armor is temporarily stored in Boston, but the warehouse, where the armor was made of wood. In 1872 the Great Boston fire destroyed much of the city, including buildings, where a collection of armor was waiting in the wings.
source: flickr.com/Curious Expeditions/CC
source: flickr.com/Curious Expeditions/CC
After such a loss Mercer realized that he can’t risk to let accidental fire destroying his life. The people of Doylestown thought it was crazy, because he spent years to build their concrete castles – the Museum and estate Fonthill. To celebrate the end of construction of the latter, Mercer climbed the upper terrace and there kindled a great fire, which rose so high that it could see all the doubters residents of Doylestown. Castle turned completely refractory.
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Today the castle Fonthill and the nearby Museum are surprisingly spectacular attraction that is definitely worth seeing. They are located at the address 525 E Court St & Route 313, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, about 45 minutes from Philadelphia. The Museum is open for visits daily (mon – sat 10:00 – 17:00; sun 12:00 – 17:00), except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New year. A ticket to Fonthill castle and Mercer Museum will cost you $26.
source: flickr.com/Curious Expeditions/CC
