If you read nothing beyond this first paragraph, do just this one thing. Scroll all the way to the bottom of this email, where you should see three sections. Each section will say the state, the name of the museum in that state and a button to read more.

This email started as just that bottom section, listing three automotive museums throughout North America. Every week I use this email as a tool to ensure the three automotive museums I list are as accurate as possible.

The goal has always been to just introduce the museums to you, so you, as a potential visitor, can learn more about them. Sometimes they’ll be convenient to visit, and sometimes they won’t, but we live in a digital world and there is still a lot that can be learned from a museum 3,000 miles away.

I started writing a little something each week, just the make these emails a little more interesting. I have a pretty unique perspective when it comes to museums. I didn’t go to school to work at a museum. I didn’t have any museum experience. I don’t have a collection of cars, and I’m not independently wealthy.

And yet, I created Miles Through Time Automotive Museum with one car I inherited and nine years later, the museum averages about 130 full-size cars on display. I created automotivemuseumguide.com from the research I did trying to figure out what I was supposed to do.

True automotive enthusiasts are going to crave wanting to know where they can experience more. I created the Automotive Museum Guide to make it easy to find all the automotive museums you could actually visit.

Every couple of weeks, someone emails me and says they really wished I had told them exactly where each museum is that I mention. Typically, I purposefully do not mention where the museums are in this portion of the email.

For example, Mendenhall’s Museum of Gasoline Pumps & Petroliana is a super cool private collection that is accessible to the public by appointment. This is one of those museums that teeters between private collection and museum. 

Technically, it is the private collection of Mark Mendenhall, but since his son Mark and daughter-in-law Vickie still make it accessible to the public, it is a museum.

The Collection on Palmetto is another fantastic collection that I’ve had the privilege to see in person. If you’re a fan of steam cars, they have some beautiful ones. The entire location is actually quite beautiful. This museum does have regular hours, but they are limited.

The D.W. Correll Museum was also a private collection, but Mr. Correll loved his city so much he left his entire collection and two buildings to the city. Mr. Correll collected many things beyond just cars, like over 5,000 rocks and visitors can still enjoy them all today.

Hopefully, I’ve piqued your interest enough about each of these museums that you’d like to know a little bit more about them. All you have to do is click the hyperlinked name of the museum, and it will tell you more about the museum, including the exact location and contact information.

Inevitably, every few weeks someone emails and tells me how much they wished I would tell them exactly where the museums are that I mention. Sometimes, depending on the email provider, they can do some funky things, and I thought perhaps the bottom section, which says specifically which state the museums are located, was being hidden somehow.

I’ve been able to confirm with multiple people, who understand they can see what states the museums are located in or just click the hyperlinks to really learn more about the museums.

Somehow, some people still get upset with me for not specifically saying more about where the museums are located, to the point where they email me to tell me they want to unsubscribe because I won’t tell them more.

Please understand, I don’t want people to automatically disregard a museum because it is deemed too far away. The goal is to learn about each museum, even if it is a museum you may never visit. 

Miles Through Time Automotive Museum is in Georgia, and yet there are people who actively support the museum as far away as California. Either by donating to the museum or just helping spread the word, so more people can discover it.

In some cases, some of the museum’s long-distance supporters may never be able to visit the museum in person, but they still get to be a part of the museum and see what we do by following on social media and museum emails. Anyone can do the same thing for any museum in the world.

Visit the museums you can, and support the museums you connect with.

If you want to see more, visit the Weekly 3.

Plan your next trip, discover your new favorite, or find the nearest museum

 Sean Mathis
Creator of Automotive Museum Guide
Founder of Miles Through Time Automotive Museum

P.S. Make sure you follow AMG on Facebook and join the FB Group to see what’s going on at all the museums.