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The 83-year-old retired schoolteacher always welcomes visitors to his little house in Onset, where he runs the Porter Thermometer Museum. His vast collection of thermometers — which he keeps in his basement — has drawn curiosity-seekers from far and wide, and put Onset on the map as the unofficial “Thermometer Capital of the World.’’
Porter holds the Guinness world record for having amassed the largest collection of thermometers, and a mechanical counter mounted on his basement door keeps track of the number he’s accumulated over the years: 5,200.
They’re not all housed in Onset anymore, though: Several years ago, Porter sold his prized collection to Joel N. Myers, the founder and president of AccuWeather. Thousands of the thermometers went to State College, Pa., where AccuWeather is headquartered.
But there’s still plenty left to see in Porter’s museum. Hundreds of thermometers are on display in his basement — some on loan from their new owner, some collected by Porter since the sale — and his quirky little museum still operates under the same old motto it’s always had: always open, always free.
