See The Wonderful Miniature Museum Of Greater St. Louis

The Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis is locatedThe museum and its members hold various
at 4746 Gravois Avenue, in St. Louis, MO, and it is onefund-raising events throughout the year. The most
of the most popular locations for miniature andpopular and important one of these is the Gateway
dollhouse enthusiasts in the country to visit. TheFair Show and Sale, which is held both in the spring
museum first opened its doors to the public on Juneand the fall. During this event, dealers from around
27, 2001 and it contains a wide variety of dollhouseAmerica gather to sell their products and conduct
miniatures in all available scales.  The building alsoworkshops for the public. The "miniatures only" garage
features a gift shop as well as a library that is devotedsale is also a popular event each year.
to the hobby of miniatures.  The second floor housesThe museum currently has over 200 members and is
a classroom which will be used to host new exhibitsgoverned by an all-volunteer Board of Directors. The
as well as classes.  The location is very popular as itgroup is aiming to increase the membership numbers
also sponsors two miniature shows each year. Theseand if you are interested in joining, you should be able
are the Gateway Miniature Fair, and a "miniatures only"to locate their website using Google.  Members are
garage sale. admitted to the museum for free and they also
The museum is open to the public throughout the yearreceive invitations to special events, have access to
from Wednesdays thru Sundays. It is closed onthe library, and are given a subscription to the
Mondays, Tuesdays, Easter, July 4th, Thanksgivingorganization’s quarterly newsletter.
Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve,The website also features photos of the various
and New Year's Day. Children under the age of 16collections the museum hosts. These include a replica
who wish to visit the establishment must beof the St. Louis IX Basilica, which is also known as
accompanied by an adult. There is an entrance fee for"The Old Cathedral," in downtown St. Louis. This exhibit
all visitors. However members are admitted for free.was constructed in by Dr. Richard Wunderlich, D.D.S. in
The roots of the Miniature Museum of Greater St.1975 and exhibited in 1981 at the NAME Convention in
Louis can be traced back to 1989.The group shared aSt. Louis.  It has also been exhibited in the museum at
common goal, which was to form a centrally-locatedthe Basilica. The replica was built entirely by hand on a
museum that could be used to house and display anscale of 3/8 of an inch to the foot. It took about 3,800
assortment of miniature works and collections thathours to build an it is made of various items such as
people of all ages could enjoy. The organization boughthypodermic needles, golf tees, tongue depressors,
a building In February 2000, and it was renovated into awooden applicators, antique buttons, dental burs, pill
museum before opening in 2001. The organization isbottles, and Christmas decorations among others. The
also renovating other areas of the building formuseum also hosts special exhibits and photo galleries
extended use.of these van be viewed on the website.