Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum

This place is a hidden gem of San Antonio. If you give him a call beforehand, he’ll come out and tell you the history behind each of the toilet seats. He’s such a sweet old man. Make sure you bring him something or at least provide a donation for his work.

AMAZING. Stupendous. Seriously unique.
I cannot believe I went nearly 9 years living here without visiting this hidden gem. I’ve had this museum bookmarked on my Unilocal for years and I FINALLY made a visit.
I called Barney to ask about his hours and he agreed to open specially on a Sunday for me and my out-​of-​town friends. He took my number and promised to call me when he was heading home on the scheduled Sunday. Barney didn’t disappoint, and he called as promised.
When we arrived, he happily gave us a tour and in-​depth description of many of his seats. I can barely remember half of what he said, and I’m impressed that at 94 years old Barney remembers it all!!! He is such an interesting man and his stories are captivating. I could have stayed all day, but I plan to go back and have another visit soon!
I never would have known about Barney and his museum without Unilocal!!!:)

What a fantastic and great man Barney Smith is! An interesting and fun place to visit with great history on the top and bottom of toilet seats. Well worth the stop by and visit with Barney. I’m so glad we took the time; Barney made our day.

So glad we stopped at the museum! Barney is a very pleasant and interesting man. Accommodated us by opening a bit early. He is sharp as a tack and we were blown away by his creativity! It was a hoot to see the articles and shows about his passion. Fun to sign our state toilet seat.

This was super interesting! I could’ve spent hours in there talking to Barney. I called him and he’d already closed down for the day, but told me to go ahead and come on and he’d open up for my gf and I. He had 1,192 toilet seats in there and he knows every detail of every item in there (who donated the items, where everything was and what each one says). He pulled out some vhs tapes and showed me the times he’s been on tv. I spent maybe an hour in there and could’ve stayed longer, but it was getting late. Seriously, he was one of the sweetest and interesting people I’ve ever encountered. I kinda just want to be best friends and decorate toilet seats with him. Thank you, Barney. It was a true pleasure meeting you tonight. I hope to make it back to San Antonio soon to visit again. As we were leaving here told us not to wait too long to come back because he is 94 and you never know when his time will come (haha). Check it out, it’s free, just throw a couple bucks in his donation bucket (if you can) and he’s happy with just that.

It was a really great time and Barney is such a nice man! He has seats for every state and more. I don’t want to give out any spoilers. There is so much history in this garage. It’s by appointment only, but it’s worth the call. :)

What an incredible experience! At 94, Barney is charming, hilarious and full of fantastic stories! This is a MUST, MUST, MUST SEE before, as Barney said, «they cart him off to the hospital.» The highest seat number on our visit: 1180. Though he has about 10 more «in the house still being worked on.» Allow about an hour or so and don’t be in a hurry.

One of my favorite roadside attractions in the city… He is 94 years old now, also super friendly, super nice to talk to you. He is quite enthusiastic about his collection, which only makes the experience all the better. One needs to call in advance for an appointment, but he is very accommodating.

A fun, awesome, and unique spot to visit in SA! Barney Smith runs this museum out of his garage, filled with art on toilet seats. His inspiration? He used to be a plumber!
The toilet seats (numbering 1,168 on my visit) span all the states, the Canadian provinces, several countries, landmark events in his life (anniversaries and birthdays), local community organizations, and important historical moments– there’s even one with a piece of the Challenger shuttle attached!
Barney himself is a great guy, happy to show you around and explain several of his favorite pieces. While there, you will sign his visitor’s log and you can put your name on a toilet seat (usally based on where you are from).
Don’t forget to stop in the room to the far right, the back corner has a small television set up with recordings of Barney’s TV appearances on Montel, The View, and other news and radio shows. It’s definitely a spot worth visiting for the sheer absurdity and creativity, but it’s Barney himself who takes the visit from simply «cool» to engaging, educational, and fun!

Barney was very sweet. There were so many toilet seats to look at! It was definitely very unique!!!

This is a fun and off the beaten path stop to make while visiting San Antonio. Barney is passionate about his work and has a fantastic sense of humor. This is not a place for the serious art conniseur, but for those with a fu sense of adventure, looking for out of the ordinary things to do. So, after you have seen the Alamo, wlaked the Riverwalk, toured the missions, even ventured to China Grove, make sure you visit Barney’s!

This weekend was a scooter rally in San Antonio, and all of our rides that day were part of a scavenger hunt… The toilet seat museum was one of the stops, and I’m glad we didn’t just snap a picture infront of the sign and go!!! All the other reviews perfectly explain the experience. He is the attraction, and it’s amazing to hear the stories behind each toilet seat cover!!! We were there with him for about 90 minutes, even though we were supposed to be out finding other random spots across town, checking things off the list, we completely enjoyed being there as long as we were, and felt we won the scavenger hunt just by finding him and taking his garage in: there’s so many layers to how fascinating he and his place is!!! He offered to make a seat for us, so we are going to be seat #1146! What an honor! We all dug thru our scooters to find random treasures for him, he was so excited-​so were we! Thank you Barney: you are amazing and Alamo Heights is lucky to have you!!!

This museum is in a residential garage on a quiet street with a little sign around the back with a phone number on it. It’s good if you can call ahead, but I didn’t realize I needed to do this. Barney Smith answered and said to give him a few minutes and he’d open the place up for me, and a few minutes later he ambled out with his walker, opened up the garage, and turned on the fans. Then we went inside and he showed me his toilet seat art, starting with his talk show appearances and the commemorative toilet seats he made for the occasions. The overarching theme is kind of a scrapbooking venture… but with toilet seats, since his career was as a master plumber. He has a piece of the Berlin wall and a scrap of barbed wire from Auschwitz, arrowheads, taxidermy, various toys, and a wide range of themes and odd items that I hadn’t ever expected to see on a toilet seat. Which is of course the reason to come to this museum, and to see artwork that you would normally never encounter, and to talk to the artist about his life and experiences.

Is it grand? No
Is it marvelous? No
Is it historically important? No
Is it priceless? No
Is it valuable? No
Then why did I rank the museum on the same list of places that I visited such as the «Gateway to Hell» in Turkmenistan, or «Church of Saint George» in Ethiopia? That is because I saw passion and dedication in his work. He was prideful of his work and it showed. He might be 90+ years old and might walk slow, but he showed more passion and energy than any ²⁰⁄₃₀ yr old I know.
If you are in San Antonio, please make the time to come by and see his work. Call ahead of time to schedule an appointment, please be flexible on scheduling.
He is 90 years old and he been married for 74 years, although his wife passed away this year.
Come by and see his passion, dedication and pride. Make a donation if you can.

Unexpectedly delightful! Barney Smith, artist and owner of the museum, is reason enough to go visit. His art is incredible and each piece has a story that he will happily tell. May not be ideal for very young children, but my girls, 8 and 14, loved it and want to go back and visit Barney. There’s no admission, but he’ll gladly take art supply donations.

Recently visited San Antonio and this place was first on my list! Barney answered the phone when we called to check availability. I could tell that he was genuinely excited that we were coming. He gave good directions and received us warmly when we arrived. Barney gave us a tour of the museum telling us all about many of the seats he had displayed. There is a video with several clips of popular tv shows Barney has been on and the toilets seats featured in the clips are close by to see in person. Barney is a wonderful person with a unique personality. Something I will never forget.

My husband and I saw Barney on the Sunday morning show. When we found out we were going to San Antonio we knew we had to visit. We were both excited to meet Barney and see all the art and it lived up our expectations. Like everyone has said he is such a great man and so interesting. I loved seeing all the little things he collected and what he did with them. It is a little piece of history. His location is really close to the Alamo and more interesting. We wish him and his wife the best!

I love Barney and I adore his garage full of adorned toilet seats. A retired master plumber, Barney Smith is also a bit of a treasure in Alamo Heights. He’s got everything on a toilet seat, from Kipling poems to pieces of the Challenger to archeological items. He even tried to put his wife’s gall stones on display, but she smartly hid them from him.
He will recite poems for you, he will tell you about his 70-​something-​year marriage to his childhood sweetheart, and he may even let you sign a toilet seat for posterity. And all of this is free, on a side street in ’09.
Barney has to be in his late 80s or early 90s by now, and the museum isn’t open very often (I look for it when I drive by). BUT you can call him and he’ll gladly open up for you and give you the grand tour. Often he’s open the day of the Fiesta Pooch Parade, and on sunny weekend days I see the doors to the garage propped open.
Something about having Barney in the neighborhood really livens the place up and gives it a quirky, cultural depth that I value. I always bring visitors here when they’re in town, and Barney has them sign his guest book so that he can log everyone’s hometown. Don’t miss out on this spot!

I never thought I’d ever pay homage to the toilet seat, but when you think about how much of your life is spent on the john, it’s good to pay respect to it. Barney has the most complete collection of toilet seats I have ever seen in one place.
Downright mind-​blowing.
Parts of the Berlin Wall in the toilet seat?! Awesome.
A marijuana leaf sunk into another toilet seat to remind you every time you have to go not to do drugs. Informative.
Religious messages on the toilet– Inspirational.
The craziest thing is, his home toilet seat that he uses every day is plain and normal.
It’s worth checking out. If Barney’s out there, he’ll tell you the story behind any of the toilet seats. He’s an international celebrity with his toilet seats.

The Foolish Team went to Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum Sunday on our foolish tour.
Barney is 88 years old and runs the museum out of his garage. He has decorated 905 different toilet seats and he knows where every one is located. He has appeared on the View, Montel and ABC Morning news! His knowledge and tales of each toilet seat is what makes a trip to see the toilet seats special.
Our foolish team has a Dallas, Green Bay and NY Giants fanatics; he has toilet seats decorated to commemorate each teams super bowl victory.
This was our foolish highlight of the day; Barney is a special guy and knows his toilet seats! If you every get the opportunity stop by but call first.
Would I go back? Sure with others who want to go on a Foolish tour.