Johnson-Shaw Stereoscopic Museum

The Johnson-Shaw was the reason I was stopping in Meadville. Outside of Yelp, I'm a bit of a stereoscopy-geek, so I was there to do some research.The museum is run by older volunteers who are very nice, and passionate about the company and city. It's in an old building, with very high ceilings and inadequate heat. (They are closed in winter.) I was there in April, shortly after they'd opened for the season, and it was still bitterly cold. They offered me a space heater as I worked in the library, but I was paranoid about fire risk with such a cool collection and declined to use it, opting to wear my coat instead. And did I mention I already had a cold? Don't do as I did. That was stupid. They wouldn't offer you a space heater that they felt was a fire risk. I suspect that they don't have air condition in summer, although I don't actually know.The museum is one big room that seeks to tell the history of the Keystone View Company, which was based in Meadville. They do so with mannequins set up to demonstrate different aspects of production and stereoscopic use, as well as stereoscopic pictures (original cards and blow ups). You read in books that Keystone was started with pictures of the French Creek flood, but I'd never seen those pictures before I came to the Johnson-Shaw. If memory serves, admission is about $5. Since I work in museums and don't often have to pay admission, it felt a little steep to me - but I was happy to pay it to support their mission. And, really, I'm just out of touch with what museum admissions look like these days, because $5 isn't so bad!If you're interested in stereoscopic pictures or the history of Meadville, a pop in to the Johnson-Shaw is worth your time. If you're really interested in stereo, make sure you allow time to look around their library, because they have some great stuff there, too.