Darwin ’ s
Twine Ball Museum
Above is the Darwin Museum , located on First Street , featuring the twine ball . The inset shows the man who created the ball of twine , Francis Johnson .
The Darwin Museum um is most commonly known as the home of the largest bal l of twin e made by one man , recently featured in a documentary . The museum , however , has much more to share that helps tell the story of the small town ’ s history . V isitors at the museum will l not only get a close-up of the twine ball , but they will also see many donated items throughout , including baseball memorabilia as part of an exhib it on Darwin town ball . Darwin was once quite the baseball town , with nearly 1,000 fans showing their support at each hometown game .
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Possibly the most legendary of Darwin ’ s baseball history are two of its own players – Fred “ Lefty ” Miller and Milt Goemer , who went off to play professional baseball .
In August 2011 , a painting titled “ Lefty Miller on the Mound ,” painted by Lavona Keskey , was donated to the museum and city . It portrays the July 4 , 1908 , double-header game when Miller pitched a four-hit shutout for the St . Paul Saints , defeating the Minneapolis Millers 3-0 at Lexington Park in St . Paul .
Pictures of the town ’ s teams can also be seen in an exhibit located in the museum ’ s new addition , along with baseball uniforms and the Goemer MVP trophy and ring .
The famous Darwin Twine Ball
What truly has put Darwin on the map , bringing thousands of visitors from around the world to the town each year , has been its famous ball of twine .
Spreading the word even further has been father / daughter fi lmmakers makers KC and Bryan Duggan , who completed a documentary based on the 8.7-ton world-renowned wned attraction .
The hour-and-18-minute-long
-18-minute-long documentary highlights the motivation behind Francis Johnson , the creator of the original largest ball of twine , and the two other balls of twine that have competed for the same notoriety .
As the story of the balls of twine unfolds , the documentary also portrays rays the grassroots values of conservation , patience , and perseverance , and America ’ s obsession with “ bigger is better ,” Bryan explained .
Johnson , who was the son of US congressman Magnus Johnson , wound his fi rst piece of baler twine in March 1950 .
As the ball grew , Johnson could no longer wrap the twine by hand and had to use large railroad jacks , that were built to lift boxcars , to move the ball of twine .
The ball was completed in 1979 , and recorded in the Guinness Book of Worl
d Records as the world ’ s largest ball of twine .
It weighs 8.7 tons , is 11 feet high , and measures 40 feet in diameter . Although this is still l the largest ball of twine made by one man , it was removed from the book in 1994 , by a ball of plastic twine made by several people and weighing considerably less .
Every summer , the town celebrates what it ’ s most famous for with Twine Ball Day , scheduled annually the second Saturday in August . The museum is open during the Twine Ball Day celebration , and by appointment ; con ontact t Chris Hansen at ( 320 )
275-4016 .
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Offi cial Guide to Dassel-Cokato 2018-19