Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.
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The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop around Ohio, with all 26 sections.
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Mounds & Earthworks43 ancient sites, including the Great Serpent Mound and the Newark Earthworks.
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Road Trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail.
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Lake Erie Beaches20 public beaches from Conneaut to Toledo and the islands, with a map.
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Oddities & Roadside Attractions19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops, plus a Mothman just over the line.
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Waterfalls34 falls from the Cuyahoga Valley to the Hocking Hills, with trail notes and a map.
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117 parks in 7 regions

Warther Museum and Gardens

Dover · Tuscarawas County · East-central Ohio
A self-taught carver's locomotives and a wife's 73,000 buttons
Self-taught master carverFamily museum

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Verified entrance or visitor center
Ernest Warther Museum & Gardens, 331 Karl Ave, Dover
Seasonal access
March through December, daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last admission 4:30); January and February, daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Guided tours run through Labor Day at 9:30, 11, 12:30, 2 and 3:30.
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

A museum of a self-taught carver's masterworks, with a button collection and gardens in a Tuscarawas County town.

Carver
Ernest 'Mooney' Warther, born in Dover in 1885, who left school after the second grade
Work
Scale models of steam locomotives with working internal mechanisms, carved from walnut, ebony and ivory
Pliers
Articulated pliers carved from a single block of wood
Museum
Opened in 1936 behind the family home; New York Central offered to buy the collection and he refused
Buttons
Frieda Warther's collection of more than 73,000 buttons, and her Swiss-style gardens
Grounds
An arboretum, a B&O caboose and a steam switcher engine

The story

Ernest 'Mooney' Warther was born in Dover in 1885 and lived there for most of his 87 years. His father died when he was three, and he left school after the second grade. He had no formal training in sculpture, engineering or drafting, but he taught himself to carve scale models of steam engines and locomotives, with the internal mechanisms of the real ones, out of walnut, ebony and ivory, working from railroad repair manuals. He also carved pliers in a single piece that move.

New York Central offered a handsome price for his collection and he turned it down. As word of his skill spread, the Warthers opened a small museum behind their home in 1936. It also holds his wife Frieda's button collection, in patterns, of more than 73,000 buttons, and her Swiss-style gardens, and the family made their living from a cutlery business, so the museum also displays knives. Today the museum and gardens cover an arboretum and a small railroad park, and guided tours run through the day.

Related sites

The Man Who Carved a Train You Could Run Your Finger Through

Mooney Warther never finished second grade, and he studied steam engines the way other men studied scripture. Every night after work he carved, an hour or two at a time, taking years over a single locomotive.

New York Central wanted to buy the collection. He said no, went back to Dover and opened a museum in the yard.

Behind the legend

Warther's birth, schooling and the 1936 museum are on the museum's pages, Roadside America and Ohio-First. The daily carving time is given as five hours in one account; the number of years per model varies by source. His work from repair manuals is a tour-guide account. Admission prices are current museum prices.

If you go

Take the guided tour, ask to see the plier tree, and combine it with Schoenbrunn Village and Zoar, both within a few miles.

Visiting

Status
Open daily
Managed by
The Warther family
Hours
March through December, daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last admission 4:30); January and February, daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Guided tours run through Labor Day at 9:30, 11, 12:30, 2 and 3:30.
Admission
Adults $20, seniors 65 and over $19, students 12 to 17 $9, youth 4 to 11 $8.
Phone
330-505-6003
Please note
Allow about two hours.
Address
331 Karl Ave, Dover, OH 44622
Official information →DirectionsFind trails nearby on AllTrails →

Hours and prices change. Confirm with the site before you go.

Parks nearby

Leesville Lake
About 20 miles · A muskie lake with marina camping.
Open
Tappan Lake Park
About 25 miles · A big lake park with camping and cabins.
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.