Greyhound Bus Museum (2)

right|300pxHibbing, Minnesota is known as the birthplace of the American bus industry. In 1914, Carl Wickman and Andrew Anderson, who was also called “Bus Andy”, opened the first bus museum. The bus line included only one bus and ran between the towns of Alice and Hibbing. Gene Nicolelli was inspired by the "fortitude, foresight, and guts" of Wickman and Anderson. He decided he really wanted to preserve their story. He opened the Greyhound Bus Museum in 1989. When it first opened, it had a half-dozen buses, including the 1914 Hupmobile, display cases that hold badges, uniforms, and many miniature models.[1] The Greyhound Bus Museum offers tours available to visitors. Throughout the tour you will see a Hupmobile, photos of the men that established the Greyhound Bus Museum, the machines the creators used, seven historical buses including a 1927 White, the 1956 “Scenicruiser", a 1948 “Silverside”, and a 1964 "Escortor". Children are more than welcome to go inside the buses and sit in the driver’s seat. After the tour has finished inside the building, you will head outside where you will see eleven more buses, a diorama of the building of a bus in 1916, a "before and after" photos of two Brill buses, a bus restoration of an Eagle Bus and a completed Eagle Bus.[2]
On average, the Greyhound Bus Museum gets 20 visitors a day. Their visitors are not only from the Iron Range but also from all over the world. They get visitors of all ages, from infants to citizens 90 years of age or more, but the average age of the visitors is 45.[3]
The Greyhound Bus Museum is a museum for all ages. It is a hands on museum that brings back memories for the older and challenges the youth to think back to what life might have been like to live in the times when these buses were created. It currently offers 18 different buses from the 1914 Hupmobile, to a 1994 bus, and a 1938 Diamond T that is currently being restored. The 1914 Hupmobile tells the origin of the name of the Greyhound Bus Museum as well. The Greyhound Bus Museum has a number of other attractions besides the buses. There are pictorial displays, an audio/visual presentation of a movie on they Greyhound Bus Museum’s history, a World War II diorama, a “hall Scott” pack engine, a 1930’s “art deco” terminal, an hundreds of artifacts and memorabilia of the Greyhound Bus Museum’s past.[4]
The Greyhound Bus Museum was relocated from the Hibbing city hall, to the Memorial Building to its current location at 1201 Greyhound Boulevard in Hibbing, Minnesota.[5] They are open May through September. Their schedule is as follows:
*Monday – 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
*Tuesday - 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
*Wednesday -9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
*Thursday - 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
*Friday - 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
*Saturday - 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
*Sunday – 1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
The cost of admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for student, $1 for children ages 6 through 12, and $10 for a family. The cost of a tour is $3 each.[6]
The Greyhound Bus Museum can be contacted either through telephone at 218-263-5814 or through e-mail at greyhoundbusmus@qwestoffice.net.[7]
----
[1] Kirby, Doug, Smith, Ken, and Wilkins, Mike (2010). 12/7/10 “Greyhound Bus Origin Center.” <http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2131.>
[2] W.A. Fisher Interactive (2010). 12/7/10 “Greyhound Bus Museum.” <http://www.ironrange.org/attractions/historic/greyhound/>
[3] Interview with greyhoundbusmus@qwestoffice.net conducted on 12/15/10.
[4] Interview with greyhoundbusmus@qwestoffice.net.
[5] Interview with greyhoundbusmus@qwestoffice.net.
[6] Greyhound Bus Museum (2010). 12 /9/10 “Hours and Pricing Information for the Greyhound Bus Museum.” <http://www.greyhoundbusmuseum.org/info.html>
[7] Greyhound Bus Museum “Hours and Pricing Information for the Greyhound Bus Museum.”
Category:Attractions