A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village
Salem, Oregon
Alfred C. Gilbert was born in Salem and went on to invent dozens of toys, most notably the Erector Set (the Lego of its day). He was so powerful that he personally convinced the Wilson administration not to ban the production of metal toys during World War I.
The Discovery Village was built long after Gilbert was dead, and its primary audience is, appropriately, children. But the Village does have a small museum of Gilbert's toys and inventions, and its centerpiece is "A.C.'s Backyard," a giant jungle gym built with over 20 miles of lumber that features the world's largest Erector Set tower, 52 feet tall.