Often when you visit a museum, it focuses mainly on that specific town or county. While it does have local artifacts, the Heritage Center in Dickinson County, Kansas features so much more. With its three focused museum areas, indoors as well as outdoors, there is so much to explore and learn.
- Dickinson County Historical Society Museum
The rest of the outside area are buildings representing life in pioneer times. A one-room log cabin, one-room schoolhouse, general store, blacksmith shop, and a beautiful 1915 red barn. Each building has amazing artifacts showing life at the time. Wood stoves, kerosene lanterns, buggies, groceries, school desks, bedding, kitchen supplies.
2. Museum of Independent Telephony
The Museum of Independent Telephony is extensive, informational, and fascinating. It covers the entire history of the telephone. It also tells how a local boy, Cleyson Leroy Brown (known as C.L.), lost his right arm in a farming accident at the age of nine, but that didn’t hold him back. As a young man, he went on to build multiple companies which included telephone, power and light, shoe stores, insurance companies, and grocery stores, among others. One of the companies eventually included Sprint Telecommunications.
The museum shows the first telephone installed in Kansas in 1877, and the exhibits show how the telephone progressed in style and technology up through the modern day. For glass insulator collectors, there is also a nice display of those as well.
One of the displays is a switchboard that kids (yes, even adults) can try out. While we were visiting, we saw several kids thoroughly enjoying it, so much so that they didn’t want to leave when their parents were trying to get them to move on.
3. C.W. Parker Carousel National Historic Landmark
Outside you will find the 1901 C.W. Parker Carousel with its horses and chariots that were carved by hand by German immigrants. A 1904 Wurlitzer band organ provides the music for the ride. According to the Visit Abilene website, this carousel “is the oldest operational Parker carousel known to exist.” With that distinction, how could you not take the opportunity to see it and ride on it?
Events
We didn’t want to leave this information out because we’d love to participate and think you would as well. Besides the displays, the museum holds many interesting hands-on events and classes. Keep an eye on the Event page to see if something is occurring when you are going to be visiting. Classes include or have included a Barn Quilt class, Tombstone Cleaning class, Saw Milling class, Preservation Architecture class, lectures on historic topics, and many others.
While the history of Abilene is interesting by itself, visiting the Heritage Center is a unique experience that offers so much more than just the local history. It’s worth spending a leisurely day there to make sure you see small details you may overlook if you try to hurry. Check it out and let us know which section you enjoy the most.
Located at 412 S. Campbell St.
Abilene KS 67410
Admission:
Adults over 62 are $7 and the carousel ride is $4
Ages 15-61 are $8 and the carousel ride is $4
Ages 2-14 are $4 including the carousel ride
Children under 2 are free and the carousel is free with a paid adult carousel ticket
Winter Hours:
November-March
10am-5pm, Wed-Fri
Closed Sat-Tue
Summer Hours:
April-Oct
10am-5pm Wed-Sat
1-5pm Sunday
Closed Mon-Tues
As always, please double-check on the website to make sure prices and days haven’t changed.
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