Matchstick Marvels Museum: A unique Iowa attraction

'Back to the Future' display.Photo byMatchstick Marvels via Facebook.

The Matchstick Marvels Museum is located at 319 - 2nd Street in Gladbrook, Iowa. The wooden matchsticks creations are by Pat Acton who also lives in Gladbrook. Some of his models date back to 1977.

Tomorrow (September 28, 2024) is the last day to see the 'Back to the Future' display. Ripley's Believe It or Not! has purchased some of Acton's creations. Acton, a retired career counselor, has been a self-employed artist.

For years, Acton had to cut off the heads of the matchsticks and later learned he could purchase them without the heads which made his creativity go faster.

Inside the museum.Photo byMatchstick Marvels via Facebook.

Acton has to glue one stick at a time. It's a time-consuming process but one he's passionate about and he's been building these models since 1977. He also bases some of his models on pop culture.

Acton has made 70 large designs such as the following:

• The Notre Dame Cathedral (over 300,000 matchsticks)
• United States Capitol (nearly 500,000 matchsticks)
• Hogwarts from Harry Potter (over 600,000 matchsticks)
• New World Trade Center (stands taller than Acton)
• Starship Enterprise from Star Trek
• Millennium Falcon from Star Wars

You can imagine it can take months to years to complete a model. The museum opened in 2003 and is operated by the City of Gladbrook and staffed by volunteers.

Marvels Museum is open April 1 through November 30 every day from 1:00-5:00 p.m. It is handicap accessible. The admission fee is $5 per adult and $3 for children aged 5-12, and those under 5 get in free.

Thanks for reading.