Day Trip

by Vicki Wood

A living history museum

Missouri Town 1855 is an authentic rural experience — hosts special events this fall

Missouri Town 1855 on Facebook

Missouri was still rebuilding in 1855, and one museum brings a living experience to patrons. That experience can be found at Missouri Town 1855 in Lee’s Summit.

Missouri Town 1855 is a 30-acre outdoor history museum located in Fleming Park east of Lake Jacomo in

Jackson County.

Life all over the state at that time was seeing an expansion of magnificent and industrious towns.

But in the 1850s, a resurrection was occurring all over

America. Steamboat travel flourished and the railroad took off after rebuilding war-torn lines.

At Missouri Town 1855, a living history museum can be found with authentic buildings and equipment that dates back to that time. With 25 original structures on the property, Missouri Town 1855 offers visitors authentic experiences of what living was like from 1822-1860. Thirty acres of housing and buildings which were moved to the park from seven different Missouri counties are show- cased. Buildings in the park include barns, a chicken coop, the church, the Colonel’s House, a hog shed, the law office, a mercantile, various smokehouses, a stagecoach stop, tavern, various homes and well houses.

Missouri Town township was created on the Little Blue River and soon became a draw for families longing for a rural life. With a structure, a couple of mules, a few chickens and a milking cow, settlers claimed small 5- to 10-acre tracts and set up households. In 1855, that was about all a family needed to survive, along with a few seeds for planting. The Little Blue River was a drinking water and bathing source and served as baptismal for the small, one-room church that doubled as a schoolhouse.

These days, the historical park’s interactive displays include farm tool demonstrations, homesteading chores and dance displays. Cookery of the era is one of the hardest household chores displayed by park re-enactors. From butchery, to preservation, the mind-boggling presentation of food preparation wows crowds.

Missouri Town 1855’s Band has been performing at special events at the Jackson County Parks System living history museum for 30 years. Nineteenth Century-style music is represented from bluegrass to foot-stomping, clogging music and square dancing. With banjos plunking, box top guitars strumming, a fiddle strikes up a toe-tapping old-style tune that is hard to sit still to.

Special events are when visitors can see living history on full display with period costume actors demonstrating the old ways in which chores were done, and folks primitively worked the land.

The 46th Annual Fall Festival at Missouri Town 1855 is the perfect time to experience the historical park. A two-day event Oct. 1-2 offers demonstrations, music, dance and crafts focused on what harvest time was like in the mid-1850s. A vendor village and food trucks will offer more modern day wares.

Dec. 4 kicks off the holiday season with a Christmas celebration that has been going on for more than 40 years. The yuletide season is a perfect time to be welcomed by the warmth of hearth fires and hot apple cider. The cold weather emphasizes the hardship settlers experienced in a greater way in the winter, but also makes one appreciate the simple coziness of a single candle in the frontier homes.

On Tuesdays only, visitors with limited mobility may find it handy that the park allows drive-thru exploration of the 30-acre park without leaving their vehicles.

For a truly unique wedding, the grounds are available to rent for private events. The large Fleming Meeting Hall makes a grand brick home backdrop to wedding-day photos.

Admission is $8 for adults, 5-13 years old is $4, seniors 62 and over is $4, under 5 is free. Missouri Town 1855 is open from April 1-Nov. 15, TuesdaySunday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with the last tour leaving at 3:30 p.m. From Nov. 16-March 31, hours of operation are weekends only from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

For a full list of Missouri Town 1855 events, check them out online at: www.makeyourdayhere.com

MARDI GRAS, MASKS MURDER!

MIDNIGHT at the MASQUERADE

Saturday,

September 24, 2022

Doors open at 4:00pm Cash Bar Social Hour/Appetizers 4:00-5:00pm

Dinner/Show 5:00-8:00pm

American Legion, Zach Wheat Post 624

852 American Legion Rd Sunrise Beach, MO 65079 Join us for a night of MYSTERY, MAYHEM

AND MURDER!

Audience Participation encouraged. Costumes recommended Evening wear, cocktail dresses, ball gowns, Venetian masks, suits, tuxes. Silent Auction

All proceeds will support our local veterans. Limited tickets sold in advance - $20 each or $160 for table of 8 For groups and more information contact Michelle 402-657-6005 cell or Betty 573-216-2305 cell email: Alapost624@gmail.com