By the turn of the 20th century, Mercer realized that technology was developing at a rapid pace, with machine-made goods replacing handcrafted items by the thousands. With the forethought to gather and preserve America's once-common everyday objects before they were discarded and forgotten, Mercer amassed a collection of almost 30,000 items ranging from hand tools to horse-drawn vehicles. He organized and catalogued them using his own system and then in 1916 erected another castle, 6 stories high and also made of concrete, in order to store and display the objects so that the public could view them.  The towering central atrium of the Museum was used to hang the largest objects - such as a whale boat, stage coach and Conestoga wagon. On each level surrounding the court, smaller exhibits were tucked into the many alcoves, niches and rooms according to Mercer's categorization -- healing arts, tinsmithing, dairying, illumination, etc. The result is a unique structure - both inside and out - that takes visitors on a trip back in time.
For those of you interested in cooking, the museum includes sections focusing on confectionary, kitchen and baking utensils, meat and fruit preservation, butter and cheese making and cider pressing. In addition, outside the castle is a log cabin where they sometimes do open-fire cooking demonstrations. And I actually used the Mercer Museum Library located on the 3rd Floor to do research for my book since they have a pretty extensive manuscriot cookbook collection and other resources covering traditional crafts, trades and industries.