Example Article for Montana Roadtrip
Road Trip Around Montana – Polson
 | Author:
Brenda Phillips
Brenda Phillips: MT43 News Office Administrator |
Polson
Brenda Phillips
On a recent road trip to Whitefish we took a different route coming home. We drove down the west side of Flathead Lake. The view of the lake and the Mission Mountains was spectacular.
In Polson we stopped at the Miracle of America Museum. This non-profit organization was founded by Gil & Joanne Mangels in 1981. It is one of the largest collections of American history memorabilia. I saw a sign that says that this is the “Smithsonian out West”. No matter what your interests are, you will find something you like.
There is a lot of Military history which includes, guns & ammunition, uniforms, posters & maps, jeeps, tanks and vehicles, a few airplanes and helicopters, radio & communication equipment, awards & metals and so much more. Out back there is a whole frontier community that contains a barbershop, church, school, dentist office, stores, blacksmith shop, barns and many more. Each building is equipped with all of the tools and amenities of days gone by. When you enter the parking lot you can’t miss the large ferry boat jutting out of their building. Inside the museum, you can come aboard the ferry. Looking at the construction of the boat, I wondered how it could even float.
There is a local artisan that makes things of scrap metal. His imagination has conjured up people, aliens, animals and lots more, that are made of the oddest leftover parts. There is an interactive area that interested the kids, with musical sculptures that they can strike with a mallet, to listen to the tones of the different metals.
One of the oddest things we saw was an electric permanent wave machine in the beauty parlor. They had one hooked up to a mannequin and it looked scary. They had several of these devices in their collection, which makes me wonder, were these a popular fad of the 50's or something that didn’t really go over well!
There were items relating to Horses & Farming and Ag, a large motorcycle and bicycle collection, antique cars & trucks, a collection of snowmobiles over the ages. We saw every hardware item you could ever imagine and household items, including an outbuilding with the evolution of electrical appliances.
We strolled around this museum for more than 2 hours and I’m sure we didn’t see it all. If you are in the Polson area, you’ll need to make time to stop in and step back into history.
Brenda and Kurt Phillips are from Townsend and enjoy visiting Montana's scenic and historic sites.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 1 Caption: Miracle of America Museum
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 2 Caption: Historic Ferry Boat at Miracle of America Museum
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 3 Caption: Fully equipped ice cream parlor minus the ice cream!
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
Image 4 Caption: Perm machine from the 1950's
Photo Credits: Brenda Phillips
