Winchester Store Museum

Most people, when they hear of Winchester, think of guns… but they don’t realize that in the mid-to-late 1920s, Winchester had over 6,400 hardware stores that dotted the nation – including one in downtown Spirit Lake, Iowa. These hardware stores went bankrupt in the years of the Depression, causing this slice of history to nearly be lost. This collection is one of the largest of its kind in the country and is the only collection on display in a recreated hardware store that was built to the original specs of the Winchester company. This 4,000-square-foot museum collection has been featured in several magazines, including on the cover of the Winchester Collectors Association Magazine and Our Iowa Magazine, and is housed on the owner's personal property in Spirit Lake, Iowa. This museum is handicap accessible, is open by appointment only scheduled through their website at www.thewinchesterstore.com and charges only a free will offering. It is able to accommodate groups in size from 2-50.