Lock Museum of America in Terryville, Connecticut

As long as people have held items of value, they've looked for ways to safely lock them away. At the Lock Museum of America in Terryville, Connecticut, visitors can trace the history of locks and keys down through the ages. The small town location may seem odd, but Terryville, Connecticut is the place where locks were first mass produced in America at the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Connecticut lock companies

"Connecticut was the center of lock making," says the Lock Museum of America's founder, Tom Hennessey. Some of the most well-known brand names in locks - like Yale and Sargent - were Connecticut-based companies. The museum itself is built on the site of the Eagle Lock Company in Terryville, which was using brass from Connecticut foundries to make locks as early as 1854.

One entire room of the museum is dedicated to the Yale Lock Company of New Haven, Connecticut. On display is the original patent model of the pin tumbler lock designed by Linus Yale in 1865. At the time, this was considered the greatest innovation in the history of lock making. However, the museum makes a point of displaying a 4,000-year old Egyptian pin tumbler lock nearby, noting that the basics of locks and keys have changed little over the millennia.

Exhibits

The Lock Museum of America has a singular focus. There are over 23,000 locks and locking mechanisms on display, making it the largest collection of its kind in America. A recorded audio tour walks museum guests through eight separate galleries filled with locks and keys of every kind imaginable.

One of the museum galleries is dedicated to antique locks. The collection ranges from 16^th-century European locks to simpler versions used in Colonial America. Another room is filled with bank locks - including locks for vaults and safes and locks set by time. An animated display here shows the fundamentals of how a pin tumbler lock works, whether it was made by Egyptians or New Haven manufacturers.

Collection

Amidst the thousands of locks on display, the Lock Museum of America features countless fascinating examples. Look for the world's largest padlock, the first-ever key duplicating machine, a replica of the key to Independence Hall in Philadelphia and a cell lock from Sing Sing prison.

The Lock Museum of America is located at 230 Main Street on Route 6 in Terryville, Connecticut. It is open Tuesday through Sunday afternoons from May 1^st to October 31^st. Admission is $3 for adults, and kids are admitted for free.