MUSEUMS
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Suspended above the car gallery is a replica of Hugh Willoughby’s
Pelican, a seaplane that he designed and built in
1910. Willoughby, a Sewall’s Point resident, was a man of
many talents — an inventor, adventurer, sportsman and real
estate developer. The Pelican was his most notable invention.
He was a contemporary of Orville and Wilbur Wright,
and Willoughby’s original pilot’s license, signed by Orville
Wright, is on display at the museum.
The Elliott also offers an extensive baseball collection that
museum officials say is second only to the one in Cooperstown,
New York. It includes signatures of every Hall of
Famer before 1994, more than 250 autographed baseballs and
600 autographed baseball cards. Some of the museum’s prized
items include bats signed by Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Shoeless
Joe Jackson. Jackson played for the Chicago White Sox
and was one of eight players on the team accused of throwing
the 1919 World Series in exchange for gambler’s money.
GENIUS AND GENEROSITY
You cannot talk about the Elliott Museum’s 60th anniversary
without mentioning the prolific inventions of Sterling Elliott.
The museum pays tribute to its namesake in the Genius and
Generosity exhibit, which displays many of his inventions.
“Sterling wasn’t just inventing new stuff; he was always
inventing something to make something else better,” Geary
explains.
Sterling Elliott’s creative brilliance led his contemporary
Thomas Edison to hail him as a genius. He is probably best
known for inventing the steering knuckle that had a profound
impact on the automotive industry. The mechanism
guides the front wheels of an automobile, allowing them
to turn and move independently. He perfected the steering
system while developing the quadricycle, a four-wheeled
bicycle.
The elder Elliott was also a social reformer, a man ahead of
his time. During the 1880s, he was the president of a national
bicycle organization called the League of Wheelmen. As
president, he stopped a ban that prevented African Americans
from competing in bicycling. Elliott encouraged cyclist
Marshall “Major” Taylor to race, and he went on to become
the first Black world champion cyclist.
Additionally, Sterling Elliott’s entrepreneurial spirit led
him to develop the first bicycle for women, which challenged
LOCAL FAVORITES
When the museum opened
in 1961, an early Americana
collection from a Salem, Massachusetts,
museum became a
favorite with local residents.
Back by popular demand are
the old-time general store, barbershop,
apothecary and soda
fountain. The nostalgic exhibit
takes visitors back to a simpler
time of the early 1900s, when
pioneers like Walter Kitching
shaped mercantile history on
the Treasure Coast.
“The passing of six decades
has afforded locals the opportunity
to embrace the exhibit as
part of the fabric of the museum,”
Steele says. “I have
DOREEN POREBA
Robert Steele, president and CEO
of the Historical Society of Martin
County, is bringing fresh and new
ideas to the museum.
observed that people tend to
gather there and linger there because there are thousands of
things to look at. You hear the stories, ‘My grandmother had
one of these.’ It’s simply a feel-good, nostalgic trip.”
The museum is also home to nearly 100 antique cars that
range from a 1905 REO to a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria police
car. The Wheels of Change exhibit shows how commercial and
personal transportation changed lives and American culture.
The main attraction is the three-level, car-racking system that
displays a variety of vehicles and is the first one of its kind to
be used in an American museum. Visitors are mesmerized as
a car is selected through an automated touch screen. The car is
lifted up by a shuttle, moved down to ground level and placed
on a rotating turntable, where it is admired.
“There is often a line of people, sometimes two deep, to
watch it operate,” Steele says. “It’s fascinating. It’s certainly
one of the drawing cards at the museum that sets us apart.”
Steele points out some of the rare beauties in the car collection,
like the 1953 Cunningham and the 1914 Packard
2-38 that is identical to the car that boating magnate Ralph
Evinrude used as he crossed the country with his father. The
museum possesses one of the largest Model A collections in
the country.
DOREEN POREBA
The museum offers a large baseball collection, second only to the one in
the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
DOREEN POREBA
Sterling Elliott produced a series of successful inventions in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries including the first bicycle for women.
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