Welcome!

There is something here to interest everyone! The large main brick building houses 25,000 artifacts in five galleries covering over 21,000 sq. ft. The eye-catching red Heritage Barn contains an extensive collection of early farm artifacts displayed in interesting interpretive exhibits. Directly east of the Heritage Barn is a park and picnic area; several picnic tables rest under tall stately oak trees for a refreshing break on a hot summer day.

Surveyors…Merchants…Preachers…Doctors…Teachers…Miners…
By foot…By horseback…By wagon…By stagecoach…By railroad…By automobile…
Some left…Some traveled through…Many stayed to build homes, farms, and communities…

Across the rolling prairie they came – – Native Americans hunting game, roaming free until 1845…Early settlers in the Iowa-Missouri disputed territory, driving stock to market…Mormon Pioneers trekking west across the prairie wilderness…Pioneer Families eager to farm Iowa’s fertile soil…Homesteaders seeking land and a better life…