National World War I Museum

The Rock Island Arsenal Museum is located on the Rock Island Arsenal, an island in the Mississippi River near Rock Island, Illinois. The museum’s collection includes over 1,500 weapons and related artifacts, as well as historical documents, photographs, and other materials related to the history of the Rock Island Arsenal and the military in general.

The museum traces its history back to the late 19th century, when the Arsenal was still an active military installation. In 1905, a small museum was established on the Arsenal to display weapons and other artifacts, and this museum gradually expanded over the years.

Today, the Rock Island Arsenal Museum is open to the public and admission is free. Visitors can explore exhibits on the history of the Arsenal, including displays on the weapons and equipment produced there, the role of the Arsenal in various conflicts, and the daily life of soldiers and civilians who lived and worked on the island.

In addition to its exhibits, the museum offers educational programs for students and adults, including guided tours, lectures, and workshops. The museum is also home to a research library and archives, which contains a wealth of historical materials related to the Arsenal and the military.

2nd oldest U.S. Army Museum (West Point is 1st)
946-acre
FREE to visit
Open Tuesday – Saturday / noon to 4 pmA

Rock Island Arsenal Museum
1 Rock Island Arsenal
Building 60
Rock Island, IL 61299-5000
(309) 782-5021
http://www.arsenalhistoricalsociety.org/museum/

Wadsworth Atheneum – Colt’s Firearms Collection

Posted on May 17, 1905 by gwebs

66 guns, 12 on display

Created in 1905

Hartford, Connecticut

Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Collection
1905 Samuel Colt’s wife Elizabeth Colt donated his personal gun collection and memorabilia
Colt’s personal collection of firearms, edged weapons, and armor from around the world
the wooden model carved by Colt aboard ship in his youth that led him to the design of the perfect revolver
rare pre-1830 revolving guns studied by Colt
Colt prototypes
Fine production guns made at the Colt Factory
Gifts from czars, princes, and sultans

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
600 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 278-2670

E.H.J. Colt Collection links:

Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Collection

https://bennicholson.com/guns/Wadsworth-Atheneum-E-H-J-Colt-Firearms-Collection.html

Nunnemacher Arms Collection

Posted on May 17, 1901 by gwebs

3,500 guns, 150 on display

1901 Built
1928 Metschl catalog has an account of the collection in storage

Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Public Museum
natural and human history museum

Firearms are shown without labels as tools and objects of technology

https://bennicholson.com/guns/Milwaukee-Public-Museum-Nunnemacher-Arms-Collection.html

Gettysburg National Military Park Museum

Posted on May 17, 1895 by gwebs

100+? on display

Created in 1895

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

focused on the three-day Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)
November 19, 1863 dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery
March 1864 cemetery was completed
1864 Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association created
1870 to 1873 bodies of 3,393 Confederate dead were sent to home cemeteries
1872 U.S. War Department took Control of the site
1895 Gettysburg National Military Park was established
– 800 acres and 300 monuments
1933 Control of the Park to the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
– 1,400 monuments and markers

Pre-History

1929 Dr. William J. Chewning 100,000 Civil War artifact collection
opened National Battlefield Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia
1929-1937 private museum
1938 Sold to Julius T. Richards
May 8, 1938 2nd ” National Battlefield Museum” built on the Manassas, VA battlefield
then into storage
1945 3rd ” National Battlefield Museum” re-built in Vicksburg, Mississippi
4005 Washington Street
1960 now called the “National Civil War Museum” sat along the Suwannee River in Old Town, Florida
June 15, 1961 Richards sold his collection to Rosensteel

1921, George D. Rosensteel, IV opened the Gettysburg National Museum
Taneytown Road, across from Gettysburg National Cemetery
June 15, 1961 bought Richard’s collection
1967 new steward was the National Park Service
1971 Family sold the collection
89,000 artifacts and the museum building passed into the hands of the government

1195 Baltimore Pike
Gettysburg, PA 17325

Phone: (717) 334-1124

https://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm

http://www.bettycarol.com/Gettysburg/Gettysburg.html

Smithsonian Museum – National Firearms Collection

Posted on May 17, 1876 by gwebs

7,000 guns (150 on display)

1876 Created

Smithsonian, Washington, DC

1876 National Museum of American History established the National Firearms Collection in Washington, DC
America’s historic firearms:
patent models, military projects, key examples of production arms, guns of historic figures, exhibition guns and presentation guns
1988 dismantled and put in storage
stored in the ‘Gun Room’ within the National Museum of American History
only accessible to scholars and dignitaries
1% (64 guns) of the collection is on loan to the Cody Firearms Museum (But you can not film it)

https://bennicholson.com/guns/National-Firearms-Collection-of-the-Smithsonian.html