One of multiple black-light rooms with a collection of Vaseline glass at the Golden Pioneer Museum, Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
The Golden Pioneer Museum (GPM), located in Golden, Missouri, is … unusual. Unlike most museums, which focus on a particular subject or related subjects and are run by specialists in those areas, the Golden museum is essentially a collection of collections whose disparate contents push up against each other to create strange and sometimes disquieting juxtapositions. Its unique character is owed to the local Prier family, who took over the Trail of Tears museum located in Hunstville, AR in 1993 and combined it with their own amassments of pioneer artifacts and carnival glass. Since then, the family has continued to expand the museum by taking in the accumulations of other collectors, including butter dishes, fossils, fans, tractors, Nazi paraphernalia, Asian decorative arts, “Black Americana,” and many, many more. Walking through its maze of stuffed aisles can feel like strolling through the schizophrenic psyche of America itself. For both better and worse.
Mineral room under normal light.
Golden Pioneer Museum, Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Mineral room under black light.
Golden Pioneer Museum, Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Golden is located at the very bottom of the state, about 15 miles north of Eureka Springs, AR. As of the writing of this post, the museum is open April 12–October 31, Tuesday through Saturday, 10am–4:30pm. Entrance is free.
For more information on the GPM and its collection, check out its website: https://goldenpioneermuseum.org/.
Golden Pioneer Museum exterior in Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Mineral and glass display in the Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
View into a display case at the Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Bannerstone and other Native American stone artifacts, Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Part of the extensive lunchbox collection at the Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Nazi paraphernalia at the Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Netsuke in the Golden Pioneer Museum, Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Whalebone false mask, probably Inuit, at the Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Knives/tools made from bone and stone in the Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Creative taxidermy in the Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Golden Pioneer Museum, Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Monkey butter dish, Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Vaseline glass under black lights. Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Taxidermy squirrel and Roman artifacts. Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Due to both its content and the museum’s attempt to sanitize the often overt racism of that content, the collection of “Black Americana” is among the most troubling sections of the GPM. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Candlesticks and other decorative arts at the Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Golden Pioneer Museum. Golden, MO. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.