Main Street Museum

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.

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

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.

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

History

The museum was badly damaged by Hurricane Irene in 2011.

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. After that, the museum became available on appointment only, or when hosting events.

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."[[File:Tuisfrisbee.jpg|thumb|upright|Frisbee of Tui, the dog, exhibited in a combined exhibition with [[Dartmouth College]] in 2003]]

Publications

• What is It? We Have It! You Want to See It!, Description of the organization. White River Junction, 2008.
• Description of the Collections, with pl., White River Junction, 2007.
• The Arts; All Of Them, In White River Junction, Vermont, Hartford, 2000.
• “There Ought To Be A Plaque,” article on Main Street Museum Building and White River Jct. history, Out In The Mountains, Burlington, VT, February, 1998.
• The Mangelsdorf Tripartite Theory of Corn Genetics, Published by the Museum, with pls. Hartford, Vermont, 1998.
• Pickled Eggs In Tar, An Intermittently Sulfurous Specimen, fl;189;66;em, “Number 001 in the Series...Prepared Under the Auspices Of The First Branch Memorial,” Hartford Village, 1998.
• "The Diary of Sabrina Hoisington,” Vermont Genealogy, vol. 1, no. 2 April 1996. (Separately published as a booklet, with pls, 1997.)
• Big Fish and Good Looking Women (exhibit catalogue for the photos of Jack Rowell), Main Street Museum, White River Jct., 1996.

References

References

1. Polston, Pamela. "Main Street Museum Makes a Key Connection to St. Petersburg".
2. (2014-11-23). "The real deal? How an object plus a story may equal an artifact".
3. "Drag queen Sasha Velour studied cartooning in White River. Now she's on a world tour".
4. "The Main Street Museum".
5. "What's the secret to downtown revitalization? Ask White River Junction".
6. (2024-12-18). "Change coming for Main Street Museum, as committed volunteer pulls back".
7. Burge, Kathleen. (3 December 2006). "Oddball museums celebrate the unexpected".
8. "OUR PIANO".
9. (2025-05-21). "Art Notes: Hartford High students express themselves in new Main Street Museum exhibit".
10. Cassidy, Maggie. (10 July 2023). "'A whole forest is floating down' the White River".
11. Nye, Reed. (26 July 2021). "Outdoors & Virtual: How the Pandemic Changed Vermont's Museums.".
12. Hakes, Sydney P.. "From paintings to puppets: A guide to museums that are keeping Vermont weird".
13. Citro, Joe. (2006). "Weird New England". [[Barnes and Noble]].