Timexpo Museum
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The Timexpo Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut is dedicated to the history of Timex watches and their predecessors dating back to the 1850s. The museum is located in the Brass Mill Commons and its location is marked by a 40 foot high replica of an Easter Island statue[1][2] which connects with the museum's archaeology exhibit. The museum is 14,000 square feet with approximately 8,000 dedicated to the two main exhibits: Timex and archaeology.[2]
Waterbury has been known for a long time as the Brass City, despite a decrease in clockmaking in the region over time and it is a former brass mill building, and the executive offices of the Scovill Manufacturing Company,[2] that houses the Timexpo Museum, whose exhibits go back as far as the founding of the Waterbury Clock Company in 1857.[3] Timex was the corporate successor of the Waterbury Clock Company.[4]
The museum focuses on important moments of Timex' history, including an exhibit on the U.S. Army commissioning Timex in 1917 to provide wristwatch versions of the Yankee pocketwatch for soldiers heading overseas,[5] but the museum is not limited in scope. It includes aspects of local history, including letters from Mark Twain,[6] who lived for a time in nearby Hartford, as well as exhibits concerning the ttravels of settlers across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[2]
The museum was approved to go forward in 1999[7] and finally opened in May 2001. Museum costs were estimated at $4.8 million, with the Naugatuck Valley Development Corp providing approximately $500,000[8] and Timex funding the rest. The final cost was $5.45 million, including $2 million from the Naugatuck Development Corporation and the Connecticut Department of Economic Development and Community Development.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Waterbury, Conn., Approves 40-Foot Statue for City Museum. The Waterbury Republican-American (2000-08-19). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ a b c d e D.A. Narducci III (2001-10-21). A Home for Time - The Timexpo Museum. The Waterbury Republican American. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Timexpo Museum. The Wilton Bulletin (2004-03-18). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Fred Musante (2001-06-24). Residue from Industrial Past Haunts State. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Rich Barlow (2002-12-01). Connecticut Watch Museum Takes you on a Trip Through Timekeeping. The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Here & There. The Charlotte Observer (2001-05-20). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Waterbury, N.Y., Agency Expected to Move Forward on Museum Project. Tribune Business News (1999-09-20). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Waterbury, Conn.-Area Officials to Seek Funding for Museum. Tribune Business News (1999-08-27). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
