From David, Owner of Crane’s Museum and Crane’s Country Store:
In the early 2000’s Joe and Marlene Crane, retired educators, were thinking of a way to make their family’s collections available for all to see and explore. In 2004, Crane’s Museum and Shoppes, opened with retail shops and a restaurant in the front half, and a 4000 square foot museum comprised of the Crane Family collections from the early 1900’s in the back section. Joe and Marlene, along with son David and his family arranged and displayed a wide variety of items one would find in the Williamsburg area at the turn of the century. Comprised of different rooms, the museum features a school room, a barber shop, an old store, a gas station with cars, a “home” in the center, a doll room, flint lock gun room, Native American arrowhead collection, and a toy room. All of the items came from over 4 generations of collections and auction finds. Joe Crane likes to say that we aren’t really collectors, but more accumulators. The museum houses a wide variety of items, from whirlygigs to lightning rods, to a doctor’s buggy being pulled by a full sized draft horse made of paper mache. Come see all that we have to offer in the museum and enjoy a filling breakfast, a homemade burger, or a hand dipped ice cream. We love large groups with seating in the museum for up to 55.