Higgins Armory Museum - History

History

The Museum was founded by John Woodman Higgins, a prominent industrialist and owner of Worcester Pressed Steel. What began as one man's interest in owning "one really good, genuine suit" soon grew into an unparalleled collection of knightly armor. The collection was formerly housed in Higgins’ family home, and the pieces were simply for decoration. When the collection outgrew the house, Higgins constructed the current building on the property of his steel factory, and moved the pieces there permanently.

The Museum was initially associated with the Worcester Pressed Steel factory. During Higgins’ lifetime, admission to the Museum began with a walk through the armor exhibits and ended with a tour through the production lines. Higgins strongly emphasized the connection between the metalcraft of old and the modern-day technologies of planes, bicycles, and automobiles. However, after Higgins’s death and the subsequent closure of the factory, the modern displays were eliminated and the tours focused solely on the pieces in the museum’s collection.

The museum has been accredited by the American Association of Museums since the 1970s, and by 1980, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although the museum remained in the control of the Higgins family for some time after Higgins’ death, it came under the management of a public governing board in 1979. It is now the second largest collection of arms and armor in the United States, and the only such collection that remains in its original home. On display at the museum are two dozen full suits of armor for battle, jousting, and courtly ceremony, as well as swords, staff weapons, firearms, and artwork.