A Unique Ohio Attraction

Ohio is not thought of as a major tourist destination, but there are definitely a lot of interesting places to visit in the state.  One of the most unique places is the Warther Museum in Dover, Ohio, about eighty miles to the south of Cleveland.

The museum displays the incredible carvings of Ernest Mooney Warther.  Warther made his living by making handcrafted kitchen knives.  (The family still owns Warther Cutlery, and sells their high quality products at the museum shop.)  Warther's hobby and passion, however, was woodcarving... especially carvings of locomotives.  His work is absolutely astounding in its painstaking detail. Every piece is hand-carved from walnut, ebony and ivory.  Even the numbers and lettering on the trains are individually carved and inlaid.  Some of the locomotives have moving parts.

 

His dozens of carvings represent the history of the railroad.

Here the joining of the rails of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 is depicted... all carved in ivory.

A highlight of the museum is Warther's carving of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train.

Look inside the windows of one of the cars, and you will see Lincoln in his coffin.

Without a doubt, the Warther Museum is unlike anything you will see, anywhere in the world!