The Frazier History Museum, previously known as the Frazier Historical Arms Museum and the Frazier International History Museum, is a history museum located on Museum Row in the West Main District of downtown Louisville, Kentucky. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Frazier is home to one of the largest collections of toy soldiers and historic miniatures on permanent public display in the world, The Stewart Collection. Subjects of other permanent exhibitions include historic arms, bourbon whiskey, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Founded in 2004 as a museum of historical arms and armor, the Frazier has since expanded its focus to cover regional, national, and international history. In 2018, the Frazier became the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. History Prehistory Owsley Brown Frazier was a wealthy businessman and philanthropist in Louisville. When a tornado struck the city during the 1974 Super Outbreak, it destroyed Frazier's home, and a rare Kentucky long rifle that he owned — a family heirloom made for his great-great-grandfather in Bardstown in the 1820s and gifted to him by his grandfather in 1952 — disappeared. Frazier would never find the rifle, but his search for it would spark a passion for collecting antique weapons. In 2000, the year he stepped down as vice-chairman of Brown-Forman, Frazier loaned his arms collection to the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort for a special exhibit titled The Weapon As Art. The exhibit ran for two months, but it was attended by about 10,000 people. Inspired by the turnout, Frazier decided to found a museum where he could showcase his private collection on permanent public display. On May 25, 2001, The Courier-Journal announced the Frazier Historical Arms Museum, a visitor attraction planned for downtown Louisville that was scheduled to open in fall 2002 or spring 2003. The museum was to be located in the building complex at 829 West Main Street, one of the two neighboring properties that Mr. Frazier had recently purchased. In 2002, a website was launched for the Owsley Brown Frazier Historical Arms Museum, an institution whose stated mission was “to acclaim the artistry, craftsmanship, and technological innovation of weapons and their makers.” In February 2003, Mr. Frazier signed a formal agreement entering into a partnership with the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, also known as the United Kingdom's National Museum of Arms and Armour, an ancient institution of the Tower of London that