Museums, Kansas City

See what a progressive farming community, spread across some 30 sloping acres, looked like in the mid-1800s. Missouri Town 1855 is composed of more than 25 buildings dating from 1820 - 1860. This living history museum uses original structures, furnishings and equipment. Also depicting the 19th Century lifestyles are interpreters in period attire, authentic field and garden crops, and rare livestock breeds. http://www.makeyourdayhere.com/missouritown

Year-round, visitors can head to Independence, where they’ll find the National Frontier Trails Museum, an institution that offers an in-depth look at Kansas City’s trailblazing history, including insights into Lewis and Clark’s exploration through present-day Jackson County. https://www.visitkc.com/business-detail/national-frontier-trails-museum

In 1856, the steamboat Arabia was traveling upriver to Montana with supplies needed for a small town on the Western frontier. The boat hit a snag in the Missouri River and sank near modern day Parkville. The Arabia was recovered more than a century later beneath a Kansas farm field with all of its cargo intact and in pristine condition. These artifacts are now on display at the Arabia Steamboat Museum, a one-of-a-kind establishment offering a fascinating glimpse into early Western life. https://www.visitkc.com/business-detail/arabia-steamboat-museum

The Jesse James Birthplace Museum contains the largest collection of James family artifacts in the world. Tour the home where Jesse was born and raised alongside his also-infamous brother Frank. Jesse’s grave site at Kearney’s Mount Olivet Cemetery draws thousands of visitors each year, as does the Jesse James Festival, which takes place each September. https://www.visitkc.com/business-detail/jesse-james-birthplace

The Alexander Majors House is one only four surviving antebellum houses in Kansas City, Missouri, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1856 for the family of Alexander Majors, the house served as both a family home and as the headquarters for Majors’ successful freighting company. The Majors House was built facing westward, overlooking what was then the Kansas Territory. Originally, the Majors House had nine rooms and nine fireplaces—one in each room. It boasts original floors of virgin white pine—non-existent today. The walls were originally plastered with white lime and hog-hair. The house’s main rooms consisted of an office, parlor, and dining room on the first floor, and three bedrooms and a family parlor on the second floor. Before the rear additions were constructed in the early 1900s, the Majors family’s kitchen was a detached outbuilding or lean-to. http://www.wornallmajors.org/explore/majors-house/

The sights and sounds of a uniquely American art form come alive at the American Jazz Museum. The Museum includes interactive exhibits and educational programs as well as the Blue Room, a working jazz club, and the Gem Theater, a modern 500-seat performing arts center. https://www.visitkc.com/business-detail/american-jazz-museum?cid=18602#sm.000184edndt4sfcyt9010c9rxvdb6