The Warther Museum & Gardens

Visit the Warther Museum and you'll experience the story of the Warther family and how they combined love of family and their hobbies to create an amazing legacy. Ernest "Mooney" Warther turned his joy of carving wood and ivory into creations that the Smithsonian has called "priceless works of art."

Mooney lived in a time when steam locomotives were king, so many of his carvings are of the locomotives. In fact, the perfection and mechanizing of his steam locomotives earned him the title of World's Master Carver in the 1920s. He was a great admirer of President Abraham Lincoln and completed a carving of his funeral train in April 1965.

Many of Mooney's carvings are steam locomotives made of walnut wood, ebony and ivory. Also enjoy the Swiss-style gardens and Freida Warther's button collection of more than 73,000 buttons.