By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN – Nutter D. Marvel’s passion for carriages has a spacious new home.

A ribbon-cutting hosted by the Greater Georgetown Chamber of Commerce Saturday commemorated the Marvel Museum’s Carriage House, the new home for the unique carriage collection assembled by Mr. Marvel, who passed away in 1988.

“This is a very special day because it has taken a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of donations to finally get this building up,” said Sky Brady, pre-event master of ceremonies.

The Carriage House dedication was among the highlights staged on the museum grounds Saturday.

Also held were grand openings for the two newest exhibits, Maurice Sanger’s Western Auto Store Museum, and the Boyer Train Museum. Both are nestled back to back in one of the museum’s buildings, which formerly housed carriages.

Doors to all museum areas and exhibits were open to the public, collectively for the first time since COVID-19’s arrival.

“This is first time since COVID that we actually have everything opened up,” said Jim Bowden, president of the Georgetown Historical Society which operates the Marvel Museum. “This project, the Marvel Museum Village Project, we changed from just a carriage museum to a village concept and as you see we have got many different things that have been added here.”

Jimmy Boyer, a longtime model railroading collector who donated his vast collection to the museum, was on hand. Enjoying the event from his wheelchair, Mr. Boyer, who now resides in an assisted living facility, agreed with the consensus that the 12-month-and-counting project undertaken by model train enthusiasts Kevin Brown, Chris Black and Ron Gillespie from Seaford turned out rather well.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said.

“For many years Jimmy had this in his garage, and he showed kids of all ages the trains,” said Mr. Bowden. “I promised him that it was going to be called the Jimmy Boyer Train Museum and that we’d have it open for kids of all ages, especially at Christmas time. We had two special soft openings in December and the crowd was phenomenal. When Jimmy said, ‘I’ve got some trains,’ I didn’t realize how many trains he had. He not only had a few trains, he had 2,000 trains.”

The Carriage House houses about 30 carriages and assorted other vehicles. Inventory includes several true treasures – the Queen’s Carriage and the Disney Carriage.

“Walt Disney drove this,” said Terry Johnson, the museum’s carriage expert. “His hobby was driving pairs of horses. He would drive from the hotel to a job site, in Florida, Silver Springs.”

The Queen’s Carriage’s claim to fame is that it is believed to have been used by Queen Elizabeth of England, mother of reigning Queen Elizabeth II.

“The Queen Mother - Queen Elizabeth’s mother,” said Mr. Johnson. “The carriage was built about 1890. It came back over (to America) during the first world war to Brewster Carriage Company, in New York. It never made it back (to England).”

Mr. Nutter found it and had an Amishman in Pennsylvania do $4,500 of restoration work in 1953 to get it ready for Brandywine Raceway, Mr. Johnson said.

Many carriages will swing into action this November for Sussex County Return Day.

“They are ready to go,” said Mr. Johnson. “We just have to put a little grease on the axle. You bring the horses.”

Construction of the Carriage House, which measures 52 feet by 100 feet, was undertaken by The Amish Tradesmen, owned by Rob and Lynn Harman. “Our crew built it,” said Mr. Harman.

Mr. Sanger’s Western Auto Museum offers a trip down memory lane to the era of one of the most popular retailers in America. The Marvel Museum connection involved a twist of fate.

Mr. Sanger and his wife Ellen were on their way to the Department of Motor Vehicles on Bedford Street to switch driver’s licenses from Maryland to Delaware when they happened to come across the Marvel Museum.

They stopped in and spoke with Rosalie Walls, who operates the museum’s gift shop. From that a partnership was born.

“We talked about his collection and legacy,” said Mr. Bowden. “God moves in mysterious ways.”

Mr. Bowden acknowledged the elected officials and others who have helped make the Marvel Museum what it is today.

Among those on hand were State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, State Rep. Ruth Briggs King, R-Georgetown, Georgetown council members Angela Townsend and Sue Barlow, and former Sussex County Councilman Samuel Wilson Jr.

“Sam was a big proponent of this facility. The monies that Sam got us through the county council helped us make this dream come true,” Mr. Bowden said.

Other attractions open to the public Saturday included the Delaware Telephone Museum, the 1890 Epworth Church, the 1832 one-room Ellis Grove schoolhouse and 1800s blacksmith shop.