Company Profile
The Strong
Company Overview
The Strong is one of the largest history museums in the United States and one of the leading museums serving families with highly interactive exhibits and programs. The Strong houses the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of historical materials related to play.
Company History
Margaret Woodbury Strong, a prolific collector of everyday objects (especially dolls and toys), founded The Strong in 1968 under the name “Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum of Fascination.” Before she died in 1969, she bequeathed her considerable estate to help support the museum, and 13 years later it opened in a new 156,000-square-foot building on 13.5 acres in downtown Rochester.
Between 2004 and 2006, the museum nearly doubled its physical footprint to 285,000 square feet, making it one of nation’s largest history museums. The museum’s expanded size, coupled with its high levels of interactivity, also distinguish it as second largest among institutions self-designated or otherwise known as children’s museums. The additions included one large and two smaller wings, two new museum shops, a food court with three restaurants, a new state-of-the-art collections storage facility, and a number of dynamic new exhibits. These include Reading Adventureland, Field of Play, and Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden. During this same period—in consequence of its refined mission and expanded scope—the museum changed its name to Strong National Museum of Play.
In 2018, The Strong broke ground on a major expansion, the centerpiece of an all-new Neighborhood of Play. The museum completed the first phase of the project—a playfully designed parking garage—in 2020. The following year, the museum broke ground on the second phase of the project, which includes a 90,000 square-foot wing.
In the summer of 2023, The Strong opened the expansion to the public, unveiling a new welcome atrium, ESL Digital Worlds (High Score and Level Up), the Suzanne & Tony Goodman Gallery, and the Hasbro Game Park. A building to connect the new space to the parking garage—the Portal of Play—was added.