Dollhouse, doll, toy and miniature museums in North America

See also museums in the rest of the world.

The museums in dollhouses are to be listed to another page: galleries.

In this page there a listed museums concentrated to dollhouses (or toys and dollhouses). While the list grows longer there might be sub pages added, but in the beginning all the museums are in the same page.

See also museums in MyMiniatures.com and Miniatures.About.com.

This page needs editing, please contribute :).

Canada

Alberta

• Museum of Miniatures in Cardston, Alberta  - Old West in 1/12 scale (covered wagons on the move, Indian villages, buffalo, wild animals and an active western town). Indian carvings and paintings, along with over 150 authentic 1/24 scale model cars and trucks.
• Village of Holden Museum - a depiction of the town 1909-1911 Dar-cys Mini Dee-Ab-Lo (miniature frontier town) in Kurt Browning's hometown of Caroline, AB. No other info available.

British Columbia

• A Small World B& B, Chemainus, Vancouver Island -Mininiatures are on display in the house.
• Stonewear Pottery, Powell River - small display of miniature roomboxes and miniature pottery.
• Miniature World, Victoria - The site has a wonderful virtual tour. See also the pictures in Flickr by Punkprops.
• The Osoyoos Desert Model Railroad, Osoyoos - The largest Marklin model railroad in North America, Over 2000 square feet of hand painted detail. More than 20 computer controlled trains run through very detailed landscaping with European style towns and houses.

Ontario

• Model Train Exhibit, St. Jacobs. The fascinating exhibit features various local scenes in miniature including a depiction of farming, barn raising, a Mennonite Meeting House and the Village of St. Jacobs.
• Miniature village of Peterborough landmarks - part of a train ride through Riverview Zoo and Park in Peterborough.
• Miniature Village, Niagara Parks - the Cullen Gardens Miniature Village formerly in Whitby, has been acquired by Niagara Parks , and can be seen at  Niagara Parks Floral Showcase, 7145 Niagara Parkway. Christmas only.

Quebec

• Baillargeon Miniature Village, Beauce - Ernest Baillargeon built 185 miniature structures, 75 of which are modeled on actual houses in the town of Beauce.
• McCord Museum in Montreal - is home to one of the largest historical collections in North America, consisting of First Nations objects (scroll down), costumes and textiles, photographs, decorative and visual art, and textual archives, totalling more than 1.4 million artifacts.

USA

Arizona

• Phoenix Art Museum - 20 of the Thorne Rooms are here.
• The Mini-Time Museum of Miniatures, Tucson - Antique and contemporary miniatures Arkansas - see article in the Daily Star, Connie Sauve's photo album
• Tiny Town Tours Miniature Museum of Merritt, Mountain Home - This museum has seven rooms of dollhouses and dollhouse miniatures from the personal collection of Ms. Merritt, including more than 120 miniature doll houses and stores.

California

• Angel’s Attic Museum, Santa Monica - The seven galleries and many display cabinets at Angels Attic.  Housed in an elaborate, restored Queen Anne Victorian house, Angels Attic is a nonprofit project to benefit services for autistic children. The dollhouse miniature collection includes buildings, room boxes, and an elaborate Noah's ark.
• Joe Martin Foundation Museum and Shop Facility, Vista - Dedicated to the work of the craftsman, particularly in metal work / model engineering, the museum is an offshoot of the Joe Martin Foundation for Exceptional Craftsmanship.
• Legoland, Carlsbad - Miniland, featuring 1:20 scale reproductions of famous cities and landmarks of that part of the world. Each Legoland web site interlinks with all of the others around the world at the top of the page.
• Mott's Miniatures Museum, Online museum. - Mott's runs a comprehensive dollhouse miniatures store in Anaheim, California.
• Palm Springs Art Museum- The Leo S. Singer Miniature Room Collection at the Palm Springs Art Museum consists of 12 miniature interiors that depict the theme of laundry. Eugene Kupjack created these rooms.
• Smallsea Museum in Carmel,  and under construction - Alice Zinn"s Dr. Artemis Zinn, the entomologist and his bugs will be living here. Video and more pics. Pics by Marilyn Ormiston

Colorado

• Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys - A 100-plus-year-old cottage houses this museum's collection of miniature doll houses, artisan miniatures, a miniature circus, scale model trains, and more. Check the museum's web site for the date of additional special exhibits.
• Magic Town, Colorado Springs - A 1:6 scale town created by Michael Garman, well-known sculptor capturing American life and character. Video

Delaware

• Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum - a nonprofit organization founded by Gloria R. Hinkel and Beverly J. Thomes, is a historical reference of antique and contemporary dollhouses, miniatures and sample furniture as well as dolls, toys, trains, boats, and planes, both European and American, from the 18th to 20th centuries. 

Florida

• Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts - This museum once featured the Pistner House, a 1750's-style French townhouse and Masters in Miniature, which showcases work from one of the largest and most acclaimed collections of miniatures in the world.
• The Ringling Museum, Sarasota - On exhibit is the Howard Bros. Circus Model, the largest miniature Circus in the world.
• The Presidents Hall of Fame  John Zweifel and his family have created a masterpiece- a 50 foot replica of the White House is 1:12 scale, which is updated to reflect the current occupants. When the miniature house isn't on tour, it is on exhibit in the Presidents Hall of Fame in Florida. Check out the circus too!

Georgia

• Mary Miller Doll Museum in Brunswick, GA - A large collection of dolls, doll houses, miniature attractions and toys that date from 1850 to the present day. There are over 3,000 dolls on display here, of which highlights include a collection of Shirley Temple dolls.

Illinois

• Coleen Moore’s Fairy Tale Castle, Chicago Museum of Science and History

This silent screen film star commissioned a fairy tale castle in the 1920s at a cost of $500000, believing that fairy tales developed imagination and creativity. She loaned it to the museum in 1949, finally donating it in 1976. It has real running water and intricate electrical systems. Here are some pictures.

• The Thorne Rooms – Art Institute of Chicago These fascinating models were conceived by Mrs. James Ward Thorne of Chicago and constructed between 1932 and 1940 by master craftsmen according to her specifications.68 rooms are on display, the largest collection in the world.

Indiana

• The Museum of Miniature Houses, Carmel -  specializes in antique and modern dollhouses and miniature scenes. This museum features a collection of more than 50 miniature doll houses and room boxes spanning a wide variety of periods. Their web site also includes great links to dollhouse miniature resources for the region.

Iowa

• National Farm Toy Museum, Dyersville - extensive collection of scale model farm toys and collectibles. 
•  Mini-Americana Barn Museum, South Amana - One of America's longest-lived and largest religious communal societies, the Amana Colonies has collection of miniature buildings that are typical of late 19th C Amana and Iowa villages and farms.
• Matchstick Marvels - Gladbrook. Patrick Acton's models of Hogwarth School from Harry Potter, and Minias Tirith from LOR, made from Matchsticks!

Kentucky

• Gateway Miniature Museum in Maysville Kentucky - recreation of Spencer house (Diana's ancestral home). The museum also houses a large collection of miniatures in its Kathleen Savage Browning Collection.
• Headley-Whitney Museum - in Lexington, houses the Cornelia Vanderbiult Whitney Dollhouse 
• The Great American Dollhouse Museum Danville KY - Historical, story telling at its best!

Watch this!

Beverly Bergerson Flickr Album

Western Traveller Review

Article in Counrty Living

Louisianna

• The House of Broel, New Orleans - an extensive dollhouse collection that was personally designed and decorated by Bonnie Broel, artist, author and Polish

Countess, over a period of fifteen years. 

Maryland

• Antique Toy Museum, Baltimore - Several antique Dollhouses are on display hers.
• Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore - Several Rooms crafted by Eugene Kupjack on exhibit - closed 2012
• Geppi's Entertainment Museum, Baltimore - The museum is dedicated to presenting the story of popular culture since the nation’s earliest days in an entertaining and educational fashion so that our guests have the unique opportunity to walk through a timeline that parallels and is entwined with history as a whole. 

Massachusetts

• Wenham Museum - Near Salem, this museum is home to a unique collection of 19th- and 20th-century doll houses.

Michigan

• Eberhard Room, Historic Trinity Lutheran Church, Detroit - is actually two rooms at Detroit's Historic Trinity Lutheran Church which were built to showcase a large collection of miniature doll houses and shadow boxes built by The Rev. Dr. David Eberhard. The collection is part of the church tour. 
• Midwest Miniatures Museum, Hickory Corners - features miniature dollhouses and roomboxes that have been donated by artists and collectors. The former National Miniatures Trust Museum is housed in a historic farmhouse on the grounds of the Gilmore Car Museum. The scale-model miniatures include miniature sets or scenes within the houses and rooms on display. Their collections include a Silver Shop by Eugene Kupjack, Silver by Pete Acquisto, the Brackenwood Dale Fantasy Tree House by Rik Pierce, a Federal Entrance Hall by Peter Kendall and numerous other miniatures and collections.

Missouri

• Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City -  Located on the campus of the University of Missouri, the Toy & Miniature Museum has a large collection of finely detailed scale miniatures, including palatial to simple dollhouse miniature displays and trains, along with toys and folk art. Features furniture by Bill Robertson, internationally renowned miniature artist 
• Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis - Exhibits feature dollhouse miniatures in all scales. This Missouri museum contains a large collection of miniature doll houses, room boxes, many of which come from estate collections. Additionally, there are miniature replicas of two St. Louis landmarks, the St. Louis IX Basilica, also known as "The Old Cathedral," and the Bevo Mill. The museum sponsors two miniature shows a year, The Gateway Miniature Fair, and a yearly "miniatures only" Garage Sale. Beverly Bergerson Flickr Album
• Truman Library -  Replica of Mt Vernon.  Stan Ohman made many custom tools and jigs to create details for the project including a shingle splitting machine made out of an old water pump that drove a splitting wedge. A screw feed controlled the shingle thickness. That allowed him to make the many thousand custom shaped shingles needed for the roof. The ceilings of the house were made of frosted plexiglass with plaster detailing glued onto it. The ceiling panels had lights hidden above them, that gave additional light to all the rooms. Be sure to click on the link at the bottom of the page for a list of the artist involved and what they contributed.

   

Nebraska

• The Kruger Collection of Miniatures, Lincoln  - at the University of Nebraska, aims to serve as an educational resource in the areas of interior design, architecture, and material culture studies.  a traveling exhibit of miniature rooms based on popular children’s books. The exhibit, “Little Nooks from Great Books,” features scenes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; Little Women; Little House on the Prairie; Peter Pan and Wendy; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Felicity Learns a Lesson: A School Story. Specific scenes include the cabin interior from Little House on the Prairie and the Gryffindor common room from Harry Potter, among others. Located in Architecture Hall, the Kruger Collection of Miniature Furnishings and Decorative Arts contains close to 20,000 1-inch scale miniatures.

New Jersey

• Craven Miniature Rooms, Mountain Lakes - A collection of six miniature rooms created between 1940 and 1941 by Edgar M. Craven, in 1:12 scale, is housed in the Mountain Lakes Library. Three of the rooms are near-duplicates of three of the Thorne Rooms. 
• Northlandz, Flemmington - Railroad museum with cities and villages, 200+ doll collections and 94 room dollhouse.

• The Dollhouse Museum at the Goodman House, Cape May - The exhibit currently on display at the Goodman House is titled "A Century of American Dollhouses, 1900-2000," and includes collection pieces from the Dollhouse Preservation Society. The society is a group of Delaware Valley collectors striving to raise the public’s awareness of the beauty, historical significance, and value of antique and collectable dollhouses.

New Mexico

• Tinkertown Museum just outside of Albuquerque NM - It is the life's work of Ross Ward and has miniature Old West towns, a circus, and so many other things, all hand-carved and painted. 

New York

• Dollhouse Hall of Fame - Cooperstown. Inspired by Dean Roberts SR, former owner of Greenleaf Dollhouse Company.
• Forbes Galleries, New York City -  in the lobby of Forbes Magazine Headquarters in Greenwich Village house a large collection of toy soldiers (more than 10,000) as well as a collection of toy boats and a number of other specialist collections. Also roomboxes made for Malcolm Forbes by Eugene Kupjack.

• Gulliver’s Gate - interactive museum showing over 25 cities up close.
•  Museum of the City of New York – Toy Collection - contains over 10,000 toys, including several important early dollhouses, documenting the social history of childhood in New York City, This museum is home to the Stettheimer Doll House, a 1920s-era miniature dolls house famous for its miniature art gallery of original paintings and sculptures by New York's foremost avant-garde artists of the day.
• Nassau Museum of Art Tee Ridder Division Long Island NY - The Dollhouse Castle is owned by Dr. Michael Freeman and his wife Lois Freeman and is currently on loan to the Nassau Museum. 
• Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester The National Toy Hall of Fame is shown here as well as a full range of hands on exhibits including a full size carousel. 
• The Yorktown Museum The museum exhibits the Marjorie Johnson Dollhouse. 
• Queen’s Museum of Art - Home to The Panorama of the City of New York, an architectural model constructed for the 1964 World's Fair and since updated, which contains every building from all five New York Boroughs up to 1992.
• North Carolina
• The Doll & Miniature Museum, High Point - The intention of this museum is to interpret, entertain, enlighten and educate the Heritage of Dolls & Miniatures. Miniatures, doll houses and dolls are on exhibit, 
• The Toy Museum, Old Salem -  teddy bears and puppets, doll houses and toy zoos, and toys made of porcelain, silver or cast iron.There are toys from Germany, Great Britain, Holland, France, Spain, and America. The most recent are early-twentieth-century airplanes and automobiles. A selection of Moravian toys. 

Ohio

• EnterTRAINmentJunction - Cincinnati.The gift shop sells miniatures and there is a miniatures group as well.

Oregon

• Oregon Historical Society, Portland  - The Ivan Collin's Collection, sixty-three miniature horse drawn vehicles, along with plans and photographs is located at the Oregon Historical Society. Ivan Collins, an Oregon genius, researched, planned, and built 62 of the most accurate, meticulous, and beautiful model horse-drawn vehicles to be found anywhere. Collins focused his considerable artistry on 1/8 scale vehicles that helped to settle the western United States. Collins’s Brougham, Concord coach, Albany sleigh, phaeton, omnibus, Victoria, medicine wagon, and other models have enchanted visitors to the exhibit of his models at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland for over three decades. 
• Tiny Town and Railway -  1to6 scale Town,  6249 S Turkey Creek Road, Morrison, near Denver

Pennsylvania

• Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, Bethlehem - The Elizabeth Johnston Prime Dollhouse and Toy Collection. This world-renowned collection features 50 different types of structures including dollhouses, stores, safari scenes, room boxes, cupboard houses, stables, zoo buildings and forts plus thousands of furnishings, dolls and figures to accompany them. The objects date from the 1830s to the 1930s and are primarily from Germany, England, Great Britain and the United States.
• Pittsburgh Miniature Railroad and Village, Carnegie Science Center. Depicting turn of the century life in the Pittsburgh area. See the wiki page for the museum: carnegie_science_center

Tennessee

• Innovative Miniatures and Museum, Chattanooga - This shop houses collectible miniatures and supplies to make miniatures as well as a museum. 
• Knoxville Museum of Art - 9 Thorne rooms

South Carolina

• The Forde Doll & Dollhouse Collection, Walterboro - a rare exhibit of more than 50 dollhouses, room boxes, toy kitchens, paper dolls, and antique dolls all on permanent display. 

Oklahoma

• Ida Dennie Willis Museum of Miniatures, Dolls & Toys, Tulsa - exotic dolls, toys and miniatures displayed. The Willis Museum mainly houses the thirty-plus years collection of dolls and toys gathered by Mrs. Ida Dennie Willis, retired Tulsa teacher. It also features other collections, including Mrs. Fannie Hill's "One Thousand Dolls," Buena V. Green's Collection of Native American dolls and artifacts, Eddie Faye Gates' ethnic and advertising dolls and Carl Smith's handcrafted, miniature houses and Gypsy caravan. 

Texas

• American Museum of Miniature Arts, Dallas - Some of the exhibits you will find on display are Biehl House, Mt. Pleasant, Early Texas Rooms, The Music Room, Amish Scene, Edwardian Millinery Vignette, Miniature Sterling Silver Collection 
•  Town Mountain Miniature Museum - features the life-time collection of native Banderan, Patty Callahan Adamson. Both sides of her family came to Bandera in the 1850's and helped settle this area. 

Vermont

• Shelburne Museum - Among the most popular exhibitions at Shelburne are two hand-carved wood circuses: the Roy Arnold Circus Parade and the Kirk Bros. Circus. The Arnold Circus Parade has nearly 4,000 figures. It was made between 1925-55 and forms a parade over 500 feet long. The one-inch-to-one-foot scale figures include a myriad of clowns, acrobats, animals, and circus wagons that evoke the heyday of the circus era. The Kirk Bros. Circus is a miniature three-ring circus with audience comprised of over 3,500 pieces. Edgar Kirk (1891-1956) fashioned the figures over 40 years using only a treadle jigsaw and penknife. 

Virginia

• Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester - features a high style dollhouse miniatures collection that showcases the work of more than 75 miniature artists and artisans in doll houses, room boxes and shadow boxes, all in 1 inch scale.
• The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Williamsburg - Children’s toys, corn husk dolls
• The R. Lee Taylor Miniatures Gallery, Winchester - five houses, four rooms, and the work of more than seventy-five miniatures artisans. It also includes a short video presentation about R. Lee Taylor..
• Toy Museum, Natural Bridge of Virginia - The museum collections feature many full sets and series of collectible toys particularly since 1975. There are hundreds of thousands of parts and pieces to many of the more than 45,000 items comprising the museum's holdings in toys, games and dolls, which date from 1740 to 2000.  

Washington D.C.

• Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - Faith Bradford's dollhouse is on permanent exhibit (see book), also Amy Carter's dollhouse and the one made for the children of Grover Cleveland, 

Washington (State on the West coast of USA)

West Virginia

• Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum, Wheeling - Interactive displays, operating O and HO gauge train layouts, a unique and family friendly gift shop, a room dedicated to Ohio Valley history and culture, and a restored railroad caboose onsite
• Marx Toy Museum, Glen Dale. -  an extensive display of its vintage playsets, some of which featured miniature versions of old-time gas stations, farms and Wild West towns. 

Wisconsin

• Circus World, Baraboo - Features a large circus in Miniature
• Fennimore Doll & Toy Museum - Porcelain, bisque, Barbies, miniatures, and homemade dolls are on display along with intricately detailed dollhouses. Tin toys, windup and pull toys, early Fisher Price toys, Disney characters, and many others are also featured.
• Klown Doll Museum, Plainview - A major contributor to the collection was Mattie Vanderpool, a resident of Yankton, S.D and a professional clown. Another group of over 1000 dolls from Jeri Soens are displayed in the lighted cases in the new addition. See also picasaweb/KlownDollMuseum
• Little Falls Railroad & Doll Museum, Sparta - Railroad and doll museum
• House on the Rock, Baltimore - Miniature collection and world’s largest carousel. See alsoPhotoGallery

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