Alaska hammer museum now has company

The world’s first museum devoted to the humble hammer, in Haines, Alaska, now has company in Linkmenys, Lithuania. Located in Alaska’s Inside Passage, the Haines museum has over 1,500 hammers on display that date from Roman times to the present. Open since 2001 and until recently the only museum of its kind, the quirky Haines Hammer Museum is a tribute to man’s first tool and provides a unique view of the past through the use of the hammer’s lineage.

Founder Dave Pahl began communicating with Lithuanian hammer enthusiasts a few years ago. Finally, the unlikely allies met this summer in Haines, both glad to have company in their passion for hammers. The two forces have plans to publish a reference book together about the history of hammers. For more information, contact the Haines Hammer Museum at www.hammermuseum.org. To learn more about visiting Haines, visit www.haines.ak.us.

Photo: Dave Pahl, Haines Hammer Museum owner, sits in front a 19 foot hammer he erected in front of the Hammer Museum.