Higgins Armory Museum - Worcester, MA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Higgins Armory Museum, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, housed in a steel Art Deco Building, is the sole museum in the Western Hemisphere devoted to arms and armour. The museum is a public, non-profit museum specializing in the history of arms and armor. John Woodman Higgins built a unique steel and glass structure to house his collection of armor, one of the largest such collections in the world. Currently, the museum features thousands of pieces from the ancient military traditions of Western Europe, Ancient Rome, Feudal Japan, and beyond. One of the largest arms and armor collections in the world with over 80 suits of armor spanning the Medieval to renaissance and early modern periods.

The Museum was founded by John Woodman Higgins in 1927. The building was purpose-built in the Art Deco-style, and is the first free standing glass and steel frame structure of its type to be built in the United States. The Museum has been accredited by the American Association of Museums since the 1970s.

By 1980, the museum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, under the management of a public Governing Board.

The Museum features important Classical world collections including one of three gladiator helmets in the hemisphere, bronze Homeric swords,and a war hammer from the Medieval period. In the dramatically arranged halls of armor, full suits of Japanese Samurai armor stand in splendid contrast with parade armor from the Renaissance. A magnificent early Renaissance/late Medieval Spetum is one of the prides of the collection, which also features a firearm commissioned by Catherine the Great of Russia for her grandson Grand Duke (later Tsar) Alexander I of Russia. Many visitors, however, are especially drawn to the small suits of armor worn by very young princes, the armored dog, and the armored horses displayed on full-scale models.

Higgins Armory is the largest collection of Medieval Arms and Armor outside of Europe

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County / Borough / Parish: Worcester Year listed: 1980 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event Periods of significance: 1925-1949 Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Recreation And Culture Current function: Commerce/Trade, Recreation And Culture Privately owned?: yes Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2009 To: 12/31/2009 Hours of operation: From: 9:00 AM To: 5:00 PM Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Street address: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/02/2009 nomadwillie visited it

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