Our Story

It all started when Ernest Warther lost his father at the age of three, in 1888, forcing him to take his first job at the age of five. It was during that cow-herding job that Ernest earned the nickname “Mooney,” Swiss for ‘bull of the herd,’ which stayed with him for life. But what ultimately changed the course of his life was when he found a pocketknife in the dirt road. He picked it up, started whittling, and never set it down for another 82 years. Although the knife changed over the years, Mooney’s determination, ingenuity, and artistic ability never did. In those 82 years, he would hand-sculpt over sixty works focusing around the steam-engine. The result earned him the title of the World’s Master Carver. The Ernest Warther Museum and Gardens is built around the original location of Ernest and his wife's home, his original workshop, and the first museum which opened on May 10th, 1936 in their backyard. Today, the Ernest Warther Museum is owned and operated by third and fourth generation family members whose mission is to share, educate, and delight visitors with the works compiled and created by both Ernest and Frieda Warther to invoke passion, determination, and admiration for the beauty of their art.