Support Local Museums

Interior of the Bolton Steam Museum. Photo by author.

I love museums.

I’ve been to some of the big ones. In fact I’ve been in parts of the British Museum that aren’t open to the public, while a student.

But ya know…sometimes, some of the best experiences aren’t at those big institutions. They’re at tiny, local museums, run by people who mostly aren’t paid. Genuine labors of love that focus on some niche…like the museum above, which is a museum of industrial stationary steam engines. Get your goggles! (If the museum seems empty, it was technically not open but they let us in anyway as they were there).

The Risk to Small Museums

COVID-19 has many people simply not traveling this year. Most of those who are are seeking vacations they can do in isolation; they’re renting cabins, putting up tents, going to obscure state parks to try and avoid the crowd.

Museums, especially indoor museums, are suffering. The museum in the photo is apparently doing fine, as they rely more on donations from enthusiasts than on fees from visitors (in fact, admission is free, although we gave them what I thought was a fair price).

But most small museums do rely on visitor fees, not to improve, but to survive. They also rely on gift shop sales, school trip fees, events, etc.