Elliott Museum-Stuart Florida

Are you looking for a museum that will interest people with eclectic tastes? Then the Elliott Museum may be just the place for you. The museum has exhibits ranging from inventions, vintage cars, to baseball.

My husband is a big baseball fan and had read about the Elliott museum baseball display in the newspaper so we decided to take a drive and visit the museum. I enjoy baseball but wasn't sure that looking at autographed balls would be all that exciting. I was pleasantly surprised by the museum. There was plenty to hold my interest and we really enjoyed our visit.

The changing exhibit area was featuring Machines in Motion an exhibit on Leonardo daVinci. That exhibit alone was worth the visit, but in addition we saw some neat vintage cars and the baseball exhibit was great.

The photo in this introduction is of the sculpture in front of the museum. I liked the way it was reflected in the glass walls. On this page I will share some of my photographs from the museum and give your my impressions of the exhibits.

all photos are my own, mbgphoto

The Elliott Museum has been in Stuart for 53 years but in March of 2013 it reopened with a new 48,000 square foot building. The museum is dedicated to celebrating the art, history and technology of the Martin County area where it is located. It's founder is Harmon Elliot who started the museum to honor his father, Sterling Elliot. Sterling Elliot was a famous inventor and a legend in the automobile industry. You will see many of his inventions in the museum.

Interesting Exhibit

In Latin America and the Caribbean you will see Guayabera shirts everywhere. In this exhibit the history of these interesting shirts is shown. The shirts are called by different names in different countries, for instance in Mexico they are called a Mexican Wedding Shirt.

The exhibit showed how the shirt evolved over time. Today the shirts can be found in modern department stores.

The Elliott Museum hosted the Leonardo daVinci Machines in Motion display from March 3, 2013 to August 23, 2013. This is a temporary display that travels around the USA. It features 40 full size replicas of machines from daVinci's drawings. These replicas were created by a team of scientists and artists in Florence, Italy.

We were fortunate to be able to visit the museum while this fascinating display was on exhibit. It is amazing to see ideas from the 1400's that were way before their time.

I am showing only a couple of photos from the display. If you ever get a chance to see this display I would highly recommend it.

I find Leonard daVinci so very interesting. It is amazing that this man who lived in Italy in the 1400's has such a great influence on the world today. He was a true genius. Here are some book selections if you want to learn more about daVinci.

Here is one of th 40 machines replicas that were on display. Each of the machines had a sign such as the one below that explains the machine.

In the Stuart Main Street Gallery of the museum you will be taken into the past with a variety of historical vehicles such as this Model T from 1909.

Here is a photo I took looking down into the Main Street Gallery from the second floor. The gallery holds many of the work vehicles of the past. You will find a dairy truck, postal truck, delivery truck, and various cars from the early twentith century.

The plane that is hanging from the ceililng is a full scale replica of the "Pelican" hydroaeroplane that was designed by Hugh Willoughby. Willoughby was a Stuart resident who designed this plane in 1910. According to the sign at the museum this plane was designed to fly just over the top of the water. Willoughby thought that it would be a comfort to people that were afraid to fly because if there were any problems it could just float on the water. It is a fascinating concept but evidently never caught on with the public.

The Wheels of Change exhibition was fascinating. It had 55 vintage vehicles on an elevator type machine that holds the vehicles and moves them around as visitors select a vehicle they want to view closer. At that time the robotic machine will move that vehicle onto a turntable type viewing area.

Someone who is really into cars could spend hours at this exhibit alone. I found the display technique very interesting. Sterling Elliott invented this turntable type viewing experience.

Baseball has long been a part of Florida history and this collection of baseball memoriablia celebrates this history. The Elliot collection is said to be one of the biggest collections of autographed baseball items outside of the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Anyone who has grown up collecting baseball cards will appreciate the extensive collection found in the baseball display hall. This is just one of the four cases full of baseball cards.

Here are some items of baseball memorabilia from some of baseballs greatest players.

A delightful addition to the museum is the Frances Langford Outrigger Cafe. After looking at the exhibits we stopped at the cafe for a bite of lunch. The menu had a nice variety and both the Cuban sandwich that my husband had and the pear and blue cheese salad that I had were delicious.

Actress and singer,Frances Langford is one of Stuart's most famous residents. The cafe celebrates her life with stories and newsclippings.

If this page has you interested in the Elliott Museum stop by their website for more information.