Down the road from my house, there is something called Missouri Town 1855.  Now, for those of you who don’t know me, I am obsessed with the pioneer era so visiting a site like this is right up my alley.  The technical term for this kind of site is a living history museum.  It has all the buildings you would expect to see in a town in 1855; blacksmith, mercantile, church, bank, etc.  The site also has volunteers that dress in period clothing  and talk to visitors about what a typical day would be like if you lived during that time.

Another thing that I like about this site is that they offer workshops.  They teach everything from how to make a toothbrush rug to blacksmithing.  You can go to the blacksmith shop and actually use the tools to make something period appropriate. Overall, I loved the whole visit.  It wasn’t too big but it wasn’t too small.  You could spend a couple of hours walking around and peeking in all the buildings.  The grounds were absolutely beautiful and I will definitely be going back to visit again.

Look at that garden!  In the spring, the volunteers plant heirloom plants that would have grown in the area.  They spend all season looking after the garden like the real pioneers would have.  I was amazed by this garden and I would love to have something like this in my backyard.  My husband disagrees, as you can imagine.

Another view of this awesome garden.

The sheep were having lunch in their pen, but I was told that they normally roam around the grounds, wandering wherever they please.

This is Dusty.  He is the sweetest horse I’ve ever met.  As soon as he heard our feet walking towards the barn, he left the pasture where he was eating and poked his head through the stable door.  He graciously accepted our pets and even stood still long enough for me to get this picture!

Do you enjoy visting sites like this?  Do you have any living history museums in your area?

RT