Carolina
Harley-Davidson Museum
2830
E. Franklin Blvd.
Gastonia
NC
Information:
704-867-2855
Admission:
Free
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am - 7pm, Sun. 12-5.
The Carolina Harley-Davidson Museum is housed inside Carolina Harley-Davidson, the largest Harley dealership on the East Coast, 2830 E. Franklin Blvd., Gastonia. Vintage motorcycles – the oldest a 1914 Harley-Davidson Model 10-B, known as the "Silent Gray Fellow," early cycling pictures and other motorcycling memorabilia are displayed throughout the 70,000 square-foot building. It is open to the public at no charge.
Owners
Click and Diane Baldwin are longtime Harley fans who opened their original
store in 1988. Click's parents rode Harleys before he was born. Outside
his office is an enlargement of a black-and-white photograph of his parents,
Lynn and Ernest Baldwin, taken in 1953, riding a 1948 Harley-Davidson
Knucklehead. Click's mother was pregnant with him at the time. "This is
a lifelong dream for me," Click said.
The popularity of Harley-Davidsons is at an all-time high in America after events of 9/11 and the resurgence in patriotism, amplified by the recent 100th anniversary of this legendary American manufacturer.
