National Pearl Button Museum

The first button company in Muscatine, Iowa was founded in 1884 by J. F. Boepple. The buttons were made by punching circles from the shells of freshwater mussels harvested in the shallow waters of the Mississippi River. The iridescent shells give the finished buttons a lustrous shine. By the early 1900s there were 43 factories in Muscatine involved in various aspects of button making from harvesting to sewing the buttons on cards. Between 1908 and the 1920s the factories produced 1.5 billion pearl buttons per year.  The invention of plastic buttons in the late 1940s and over harvesting of the mussel beds led to a decline in the pearl button industry. Some factories closed, some switched to plastic, and last one, McKee Button Company, founded in 1895, closed its doors in 2020.

The museum has excellent exhibits featuring button making machines, information on the workers, and displays with a huge variety of buttons. Buttons may seem like a dull subject but the museum is interesting and very well done. The second floor  has exhibits on the many local companies that help sponsor the museum.

 The museum is accessible with an elevator to the second floor.

Parking is available on the street but the sidewalk slopes toward the street which makes it difficult to exit using a lift. The parking is limited but large RVs can be parked at Riverside park which is located a few blocks south. Museum  41.42103, -91.04634