Welcome to the IIAH!
The IIAH is open to the public at no charge. At this time visiting is by appointment and our scheduled events. Please send an email to info@iiah-usa.org to arrange a visit.
A visit starts at our reproduction gas station with vintage pumps and other items related to automotive technology.
Beginning in the Summer of 2017 we initiated our 1st Tuesday events from May through October. The events were held in the evenings and highlight the museum collection. They included: a general tour of the facilities; the 1879 Hildreth Power Axe/ wood splitter and other belt driven equipment; the 10” RiderāEricsson air engine; Ford V8 60 Midget Racer & automobilia; Hit Miss (1 lung) IHC & Olds engines; Steam technology, boiler, engines &, whistles. Photographs of several of these items are shown below.
Attendees are invited to bring their own “toys” while we provide the steam lines for engines and whistle; and a drive for running belt driven equipment. We put emphasis on showing equipment operating as it might have 100 years ago and encourage hands-on participation. Gloves, safety glasses and other safety equipment are provided for visitors to use.
Over the 2017 – 2018 Winter we had two special evening events: A reenactment of a 19th century astronomy lecture using slides from our collection of Magic Lantern Slides; and an Artist Evening featuring Alan Bull. Photos from these events are shown below.
We continued our 1st Tuesday during the Summer of 2018 adding: A Paper Airplane making contest (all attendees made and flew their paper airplanes); an Ice Cream Social (See Hit – Miss Engine section below).; and a Welding night. Two all day Saturday events, Steam Day, and a joint IIAH – EAIA days were added in 2018.
Food and beverages are provided at no cost. Our usual bill of fare is hot dogs and beans, however of occasion we vary the menu.
A highpoint of the summer season is when we run the Ford V8 60 Midget Racer (photograph courtesy of Robert Roemer). The driver looks forward to this every year. Unfortunately, we cannot allow guests to drive the car. However, we do take visitors for a ride in the roadster.
