garst museum

I honestly didn't expect much from a little museum in a little town. Their big claim to fame is the Annie Oakley exhibit. It was interesting, telling much of her story honestly and without pretension. I especially enjoyed the military uniform exhibit upstairs. The exhibits describing prehistoric aboriginal times and the Native American interactions with settlers was fascinating. I am generally not fond of these types of things but I did enjoy the Garst museum.

Great museum for a small town. You are allowed to wander by yourself with none of those poor attendants that have to stare into space standing around. We enjoyed the advertised high lights of the big three, Greenville Treaty, Annie Oakley, and Lowell Thomas, but there is much more, for one, a great collection of wedding dresses going back almost most 200 years. They were always the best dress, I am guessing again, the woman owned, but my how they have changed. We did not seem to get the white satin that I am use to until I believe the 1940s (in this collection). The take away is that your wedding dress may well out live you by 150 years.

Garst Museum is a 35,000 square foot treasure trove that houses artifacts from the Treaty of Greene Ville that opened the Northwest Territories to the National Annie Oakley Center with Annie's rifles, costumes, and memorabilia. There are uniforms from the War of 1812 to the Iraqi conflict plus artifacts from the USS Shenandoah. Lowell Thomas's books, pictures, movie, and displays are housed in his room. The Village has shops as one may have found them 150 years ago. And last, but not least, is the Pioneer Room with farm implements of yesteryear as well as a stage coach, Indy car, and old-fashioned bicycles. If you enjoy antiques there are rooms set in Americana with many different types of furniture, dishes, and utensils. Garst Museum also offers "Lunch and Learn" to groups for a nominal fee. Participants can eat lunch then tour the museum. It takes at least 2 1/2 hours to see everything and that's a quick visit.

A lot of information about Lowell Thomas and Annie Oakley, as well as other Darke County information. Very well displayed and worth your time, if you are a history buff.

The Garst Museum in Greenville, OH has various exhibits back to the settlement of Greenville, signing of NorthWest Territory with actual miniature display, Annie Oakley, Lowell Thomas, Zachary Lansdowne, and Iddings Indy racing car to name a few of the extensive exhibits. Also an old town setting with bank, dentist and various other businesses that made up the downtown of years ago. You will be amazed at what all you can see and reflect upon in each of the rooms. Then you will have to come back to re-visit and still not see it all.

I've been to Deadwood and seen some information on Annie Oakley at that location, but Garst Museum is the place to go to really see who Annie was. She was born and died in Darke County, Ohio and their exhibit is wonderful. The museum also has a section on newscaster Lowell Thomas as well as exhibits on the Indian Treaty. Plan on spending a whole day at this location and be sure to eat at the famous Maid-rite just around the corner. Just please don't come on Mondays when the museum is closed. Annie Oakley days are always the third weekend in July. That is when they have reinactments at the museum yard as well as the Peace house across the street. It's also when KitchenAid has their big sale downtown greenville.

Great little museum. Treaty of Greenville, Annie Oakley, Lowell Thomas artifacts. Well worth a visit

Traveling through Greenville with friends, we allowed an hour or so to check out the Garst Museum. We stayed 3 hours and enjoyed it very much. We had 1 person in our group with a walker and the museum accomodated it well (except for the 2nd floor). All the exhibits were enjoyable. Glad we made time to see this. Historical info on Fort Greenville wa especially interesting. It was worth the time.

My wife is expert in finding really interesting attractions to visit in slightly out of the way places. We were heading back to Chicago from Nashville and Columbus, and the Garst Museum popped up at her out of our road atlas. What a good find!Greenville was the home of both travel writer Lowell Thomas and sharpshooter Annie Oakley, and two of the principal exhibits in the museum surround these famous natives. In addition, Greenville was the site of the Treaty of Green Ville, a major treaty that disenfranchised the Indian people of the area (the one that Tecumseh refused to sign). There is a major exhibit on the history of relations with the Indians, including the main personalities on both sides. All of these exhibitions are astonishingly well done, and very well laid out along a walking tour of the museum through the original Garst house and the later add-on buildings. There are a whole series of life-size period rooms from the late 19th century through mid-20th. The museum, as many regional museums do, also serves as the local attic for residents who are downsizing. There is a big room full of old farm equipment, miscellaneous belongings, and even a pair of millstones. However, the Garst Museum has managed to arrange even these odds and ends into an interesting, well-curated collection.The Garst Museum is worth going out of your way to see.

We have lived in Ohio our entire lives and have never visited Greenville until today. It was well worth the trip! The Garst Museum is one of the best "small" museums I have ever visited. Obviously run by a very proud historical society, it has many different areas of interest, including Annie Oakley, Lowell Thomas, various military and Scout uniforms and war memorabilia, and several rooms dedicated to the Greenville Treaty with Native Americans, as well as the culture of the native Americans in this part of Ohio. You really could easily spend a half day in this museum. The tour starts off great with the volunteer greeter, who is very happy to see you, but not overly pushy. Just a great way to spend a snowy day in Ohio. Thanks Greenville and the Garst Museum!

Seriously. The Annie Oakley collection alone is worth a trip here. When we travel, we try to find smaller local museums to visit and generally give ourselves 1-2 hours. We could have spent a full day here. The people were extremely friendly and helpful, the farm machinery was presented in a very engaging manner and the rest of the collection lives up to the world class Annie Oakley stuff around it. GO! We visited in 2008.

Very interesting small museum. We arrived late and had to cut our visit short.The museum is filled with much Annie Oakley memorabilia and many other interesting items from the area. Their is a splendid "Stage Coach" along with many farm implements from years past. Many personal items of Annie Oakley. I have a better appreciation for her.

I mainly went because of the Annie Oaklely section of the museum - I find her fascinating! The lady at the door where we paid our admission was funny & very informative - not a stuffy museum lady! Museum was nice - much larger than I had anticipated, Gift shop was a bit lacking - be we did find a couple things to purchase!

especially during Annie Oakley Days. A lot of neat stuff about the Greenville/ Darke County area, Lowell Thomas, etc. You should go here if you have never been!

We stopped by the Garst Museum expecting to spend an hour looking around...but when we left after 3+ hours, we had barely had time to see everything! This place puts other local history museums to shame with the breadth and depth of subject matter and variety of exhibits - there truly is something for everyone, even if you don't consider yourself a "history person." Greenville is lucky to have this in their community - you really leave with a sense of the history and culture of the area.