Displays
The Syracuse-Wawasee Museum isn’t just about old cars and artifacts, we have in the past had displays on everything from a collection of early outboard motors, military uniforms, prehistoric beasts, to stone age tools from our 1st Nations predecessors.
Upcoming Displays for 2025:
Winter:
Mt. Wawasee
Scouting
Centennial Family, Ott, Ward , Hibschman families
Spring:
Wawasee Bowl
Enchanted Hills or Crows Nest Playhouse
Summer:
Centinnial Family
Spink Property
Fall:
Schools
We as a town, are honored to be represented by the number of men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. We have a permanent display of uniforms and memorabilia from these local heroes dating back to the Civil War.
Current & Past Displays
Visiting Display
Crow Family
A photographic journey of the Crow family and their impact on the Crow’s Nest area on Lake Wawasee.
Permanent Display
Prehistoric Beasts
Come in to see some of the prehistoric beasts that may have roamed our area throughout geologic history. We have many artifacts from the museum’s collection mingled throughout the display including mammoth, mastodon, ancient camel, and ancient whale teeth, along with some plant and sea life fossils.
Permanent Display
Mier Car
Sheldon Harkless, in 1905, designed the horse-less carriage that would turn into the Mier, then sold the designs to the Ligonier Carriage Company. In 1906, LCC started rolling out the Mier Horseless Carriage. It is estimated that the first year the company manufactured somewhere around 10 of these automobiles, and continued to manufacture similar models until the 1910s. Our Mier is one of only two known to still exist from the original manufacturing run.
Permanent Displays
Military
The museum is proud to be home to a collection of military memorabilia dating back to the Civil War.
Businesses
We have a wide variety of memorabilia from past businesses throughout the Syracuse-Wawasee area.
Harkless Family Memorial Case
The Harkless Family Memorial Case contains many day-to-day items and photos of the Harkless Family. We very much thank the Harkless Foundation for being a major supporter of our day-to-day operations.
The Doug and Karen Grant Boat
This beautifully restored antique boat, donated to the Museum by Doug and Karen Grant for permanent display, was very typical of the boats that were seen on Syracuse and Wawasee lakes in the 1930’s. Sleek lines, advanced engines and elegant styling were just some of the features of the beautiful “plank on frame” boats of that bygone era.
Hours We Are Open:
