Updated: 1/18/2011 
The National Watch and Clock Museum
Columbia, Pennsylvania
Description

The Museum collection is international in scope and covers a wide variety of clocks, watches, tools, and other time-related items. The largest collection is of nineteenth-century American clocks and watches. However, additional collections include early English tallcase clocks, Asian timepieces from Japan and China, and timekeeping devices from Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Russia. Chronologically, the exhibits take you on a tour through the entire history of timekeeping technology from early non-mechanical devices to today's atomic and radio- controlled clocks.

History

The National Watch and Clock Museum was officially opened to the public in 1977 with fewer than 1,000 items. Since that time, the collection has increased to over 12,000 items and the museum has undergone several expansion projects. The latest expansion opened in October 1999 and featured an entirely new and redesigned exhibit space, as well as a new two-story addition. Today, the museum is recognized as the largest and most comprehensive horological collection in North America.

Artifact Collections

The Museum collection is international in scope and covers a wide variety of clocks, watches, tools, and other time-related items. The largest collection is of nineteenth-century American clocks and watches. However, additional collections include early English tallcase clocks, Asian timepieces from Japan and China, and timekeeping devices from Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Russia. Chronologically, the exhibits take you on a tour through the entire history of timekeeping technology from early non-mechanical devices to today's atomic and radio- controlled clocks.

Research Collections

The National Watch and Clock Museum Library and Research Center is one of the largest horological libraries in the world. Housed within the Watch and Clock Museum, the collection consists of over 30,000 books, catalogs, and periodicals dealing with all aspects of the study of time and timekeeping. Special collections material includes 21,000 American patents; postcards dealing with horological subjects; postal stamps showing timekeeping devices; ledgers and drawings from the Hamilton Watch Company; the Whitaker Westclox collection; and the personal papers of such noted horologists as Jesse Coleman, Orville Hagans, Barclay Stephens, Robert Franks, James W. Gibbs, Albert Potter, and Charles Alvah Smith.

Library

Access: General Public, Students, Scholars, Members

Appointment required: False

Services
Gift Shop
Event Rental
Restaurant
Group Tours
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MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

March 15 - 18, 2025

Blacksburg, Virginia

Ohio Museum Asociation 2025 Annual Conference - Athens

March 29 - 31, 2025

Athens, Ohio

North Carolina Museums Council 2025 Annual Conference

March 30 - 31, 2025

Raleigh, North Carolina

Arkansas Museums Association 2025 Conference

March 31 - April 3, 2025

Washington, Arkansas

New York Museum Association 2025 Conference in Ithaca, NY

April 5 - 8, 2025

Ithaca, New York

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