Heritage Backro

Although it’s advertised as great family fun, Wichita’s Old Cowtown Museum is also fun for history buffs like us. 

Owned by the City of Wichita it has over 25,000 historical artifacts spread out among 54 buildings on 23 acres of land near in the River District.

We began in the gift shop area, paying our entry fee and taking a quick look around knowing we’d be back after our tour of the grounds. We headed out on the pathway leading to the “town.” It is a little bit of a walk, but it’s all flat, with no elevation changes to worry about.

It’s called a museum and while we love museums, this one is much more than the typical static displays. You can really step into the time period and experience pieces of it.

The scene is set in the time period from 1865-1880. We walked down the dirt street, stepped onto wooden sidewalks, and took a peek inside store windows. We found period buildings, styles of clothing, ornate furniture, and live people displaying skills needed for everyday living during that time.

Buildings include a general store, a dressmaking store, a bank, a church, a saloon, a meat market, a school, a hotel – you get the idea. Basically, an entire town. Some buildings are recreations but 27 of them are original from the time period in Wichita and around Kansas, and moved to the museum grounds to be preserved.

We watched a seamstress working on an old-style dress. What was really nice is that this isn’t a living history kind of situation. She didn’t have to pretend she was living in that time period, unable to break character. She just talked with us and explained what she was sewing and about the life of a seamstress back then.

We walked on through the town, going into some buildings, and just looking in the windows of others. We made our way down to the end, where the 1880 DeVore Farm is located. We stepped inside the house to admire its style and then went out and talked to a woman who was working in the garden at the site. Again, it was enjoyable to be able to talk about everything without her needing to stay in character. We discussed the plants that were growing and talked about the real animals in the barn and how they were taken care of.

From the farm, the road turns back up towards the other side of town. Just FYI, there we found a nice restroom discretely located behind one of the buildings. We then stood at the crossroads trying to determine which way to go next. We decided to go to the “saloon” which is a snack bar now, and had a hot dog and a root beer. After we ate, we were re-energized and strolled through more of the town. We really enjoyed the blacksmith shop, where the blacksmith was working on making wall hooks. The process was fascinating to watch. He told us these items were for sale in the gift shop, to help support the museum. 

Then we walked on down the other street to look at the houses and see the home décor of the era along with the elaborate woodworking details and the craftsmanship that gave those old houses so much character.  It was interesting to see the differences between the living style of the community elite compared with the houses of the “regular” folks of Wichita.

You’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to spend at The Old Cowtown Museum. We wish we would have had more time, there really is a lot to see and explore and really take in. 

And of course, allow yourself time to spend in the gift shop before you head out. Supporting museums is something we love to do so we bought a few items there – including one of those wonderful, hand-forged wall hooks that the blacksmith made. Now we have a piece of the Old Cowtown Museum hanging in our kitchen, holding a sweet little sunflower apron we bought at another museum. Lovely little reminders of the people and the history that built this country, and of those who are volunteering their time to keep it alive for us today.

Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10am-5pm, Sunday noon-5pm. Cost is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors 62 and older. 

But double-check the website before you go to be sure of the days and hours, and to see if any special events are happening when you will be there.