Matheson Museum

1,500 year old dugout canoe on display in lobby of Matheson History Museum.

Matheson House (Gainesville, Florida)

The Tison Tool Museum, located behind the historic Matheson House

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Matheson Museum is a history museum in Gainesville, Florida, Alachua County, Florida. It includes a local history museum, the historic Matheson House, and the Tison Tool Museum. It is operated by the Alachua County Historic Trust.

Museum Complex

Matheson Museum

The Matheson Museum building, formerly an American Legion Hall and officially opened as a museum in 1994, houses the bulk of the museum complex's historical records, collections, and displays.^[1] The front of the building has a gift shop and a recreation of the Matheson Dry Goods Store that used to exist on Alachua Avenue (now University Avenue). The main gallery consists of a permanent display of Florida History along the east wall, with the remainder of the space devoted to a temporary exhibition that changes every few months. The back of the building contains the Helen C. Ellerby Library, where visitors can conduct research into the history of Alachua County with a wide collection of books, periodicals, photographs and oral histories.^[2]

Matheson House

Originally owned and built by the Matheson family, from which the museum takes its name, this house was built in 1867 and is the second oldest house in Gainesville. It was home to Christopher Matheson, Gainesville's longest serving mayor. It was deeded to the museum in 1996 upon the death Christopher's widow, Sarah Hamilton Matheson, who was also one of the original board members and founders of the museum. The Matheson House contains funiture from various eras of Alachua County history, most of which are original possessions of the Matheson family.^[3]

Tyson Tool Barn

Gifted to the museum in 1993, the Tyson Tool barn houses the extensive tool collection of John Mason Tyson Jr. Originally located on Mason's property, it was entirely deconstructed and rebuilt on the museum grounds. It displays historic tools from various industries from lumber to electrical engineering.^[4]

Sweetwater Park

Located directly behind the museum and maintained jointly by the Historic Trust and the City of Gainesville, Sweetwater Park is a botanical garden with an alphabetized display of native plant life. The park is free and open to the public.^[5]

Matheson Museum Annex

Purchased by the museum in the summer of 2014, this building was originally a tabernacle church built in 1935. For a time it was an antique store owned by Matheson board member and co-founder, Dr. Mark Barrow, and from 1982-2009 it was a Melting Pot fondue restaurant. The building is currently undergoing renovations, with hopes to open it as an extension to the Museum archives and as a new location for the library sometime in mid-2015.^[6]

See also

• List of museums in Florida

References

External links

• Matheson Museum website