While Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, Kansas rightfully receives a lot of wonderful attention, it’s also right next to a hidden gem – The Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame and Gunfighter Wax Museum.
They are small and located in a rather nondescript building that you could easily drive by, thinking that it was some administrative office. But do stop at this sweet little museum.
The first Teachers Hall of Fame in the country, the Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame honors over 450 teachers who dedicated their lives to teaching the children of Kansas. New inductees are introduced to the hall each year. The goal is to recognize the teachers and to also preserve the history of education in the state. If you know a teacher in Kansas and want to see if they are in the Hall, you can see the list here.
Besides seeing the teachers who are honored you are also taken back through your own school years in the School Room Artifact Museum. You’ll also find a variety of antique and vintage teaching supplies and equipment utilized in schools over the years. It’s fun to walk through and look at the old school lunch boxes, trying to find the ones you may have used in elementary school. Which old typewriter did you use? How about those old mimeograph machines? Did you ever run one? Even if you didn’t, do you remember the smell of those copies? Did you ever sit in old desks like the ones there?
Once you are finished looking around inside the museum, head on out back to see the restored one-room Pleasant Hill schoolhouse that was moved to the property. It’s an excellent representation of the era and many volunteers and donors helped make it possible. It was built in 1887 and used until 1946, then in 2014 it was moved to the property where it now sits.
David likes to touch everything, so he was excited that he was allowed to ring the school bell. And, it turns out, once you ring the bell you are presented with a little card with the date acknowledging that you rang the bell.
As for the Gunfighters Wax Museum, don’t expect it to be a Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum. But it’s a fun little display with many of the old west personalities plus a few others on display. Since you’re there seeing the Teachers’ Hall of Fame anyway, you should make sure you check it out.
Unfortunately, the museum is only open Memorial Day to Labor Day so you may have to make a trip back to see it, but it’s worth it. It’s so much fun to look at all the old school supplies and reminisce, and to think about the teachers who influenced your life and helped lead you to where you are today.
The Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame and Gunfighters Wax Museum is located at 603 Fifth Ave., Dodge City KS 67801.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 6-12, and free for children 5 and under.
The museum is also closed on Sundays. No pets allowed.
Be sure to double-check on the website before you go, in case they have changed their information.
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