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Places To See

Higgins Armory Museum

The Higgins Armory Museum was located in Worcester, Massachusetts, about an hour’s drive from Boston. The museum hosts one of the world’s largest collections of historical arms and armour, with over 5000 pieces dating from the Middle Ages, as well as items from ancient civilizations and other parts of the world. Medievalists.net visited the museum in November where we spoke with Morgan Kuberry, the program coordinator, and filmed some of the interesting items on display there.

The Museum was founded by John Woodman Higgins in 1927, who first started the collection. It has now grown to 3,000 armors and components, 1,000 weapons and accessories, 500 swords and daggers; 100 firearms; a tapestry, stained glass, paintings, and wood carvings. The four-story art deco Museum was one of the first all steel and glass curtain-wall structures built in America, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. On John Higgins’ death in 1961, the building, collections and an endowment were given to the public.

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In 2014, the museum was closed and its collection moved to the Worcester Art Museum. Click here to learn more about the collection.

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