Mercer Museum in Doylestown now Smithsonian affiliate

Carved canoes and hand-drawn carriages climb the walls. Woven baskets and wooden cradles hang from the ceiling. In the dimly glowing concrete tower, a gorgeous mess of early-American relics seems to come alive.

"We call this the 'oh, my gosh' room," said director Doug Dolan - because that's what people generally say when they walk into the central court, crafted by Doylestown-born archaeologist and historian Henry Mercer in 1916.

It's a spell that has been cast for the last 100 years upon visitors to the Mercer Museum, where the display of artifacts from 19th-century life has remained largely unchanged.

Objects ranging from a tortoiseshell comb to a blue whaling boat are artistically mounted in the atrium at the center of Mercer's six-story concrete castle; wheels, chairs, and tools abound. The arrangements make no sense mechanically, but one feels as if at any minute a gear could spin and send the entire room creaking to life.

Mercer, a Renaissance man who was also known for his tile-making, architecture, and archaeology, was curator of the University of Pennsylvania Museum in the 1890s before he built his own museum in Doylestown. He collected the quotidian objects of his time with an eye toward preserving the story of the building of America - "The Tools of the Nation Maker," as he called his collection.

Mercer believed "things were being lost in the face of progress," Dolan said. "The story of ordinary people was going to be forgotten."

The collection in his castle of 40,000 objects has ensured the opposite: More than 65,000 visitors tour the place annually, last year coming from 37 countries and all 50 states.

This year, as the Doylestown museum celebrates its centennial anniversary, it has another honor to fete. Last month, museum officials announced that it was named a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate, along with its sister site, Fonthill Castle, Henry Mercer's former home.

The designation makes them two of 210 affiliates in the country and forges a relationship with the Smithsonian that allows the institutions to share knowledge, artifacts, and exhibitions.

"Working together, we see greater opportunities to advance the vision of Henry Mercer and spread the story that began in Doylestown to audiences across America," Harold A. Closter, Smithsonian affiliations director, said in a statement.

The museum already is working with Smithsonian curators and researchers to help with a new exhibition, and anticipates the connection will aid in more exhibitions and new educational programs.

"It's a recognition of what has been achieved by this community. They have made this institution what it is by their support," said Dolan, who has been executive director of the museum and the Bucks County Historical Society since 1983.

Like most museums today - and like Henry Mercer himself a century ago - the place has felt the tension between preservation and progress. Although Mercer's original exhibition continues to enchant, museum leaders have attempted to nudge it into the 21st century in recent years. In 2011, a new wing opened that contains visitor services, classroom space, and a gallery for rotating exhibitions, such as the interactive American Adventure activity, on until Sunday.

Last week, dozens of schoolchildren were touring. Locals grow up knowing the castle as a landmark. Some even learn to sled on its grounds.

"It is very much a part of the life in this community," said Tom Thomas, a past board chair and trustee, who first volunteered at the museum in 1966.

The Smithsonian honor is a culmination of those efforts over decades to preserve and enhance the museum while staying true to Mercer's philosophy, Dolan said.

"He passed along his cultural legacy for the community to take care of," Dolan said, "and they have done a good job."

The Mercer Museum, along with Fonthill Castle, the James A. Michener Art Museum, and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, will be open with free admission on July 16 for Doylestown Museums' Free Day.

The traveling exhibition "Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag" will run from July 2 to Nov. 6.

jmcdaniel@philly.com

610-313-8205@McDanielJustine