Living History - Kansas City with Kids

Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop

Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm invites visitors of all ages to discover a working 1860s farm with horses, chickens, sheep, and other livestock. You and your family can engage in some of the activities that were a part of daily life for the Mahaffie family and their neighbors. Some activities include stagecoach rides, blacksmith demonstrations, farm work and chores.

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Shoal Creek Living History Museum

All summer long, the first Saturday of the month is a fun, free, family event at Shoal Creek Living History Museum. The Shoal Creek reenactors will bring to life the village with skits and shootouts through out the day, 10 am-3 pm, that will make you feel like you’re back in the 1800’s. Each weekend is a different year that features the civil war, outlaws, mountain men and gunfighters that focus on Missouri’s early history and architecture.

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Missouri Town 1855

Want to see what a progressive farming community, spread across 30 sloping acres, looked like in the mid-1800s? Then Missouri Town 1855 is the place for you! Missouri Town 1855 is composed of more than 25 buildings dating from 1820 to 1860. This living history museum uses original structures, furnishings and equipment to depict the 19th Century lifestyles with interpreters in period attire, authentic field and garden crops, and rare livestock breeds. Visit Missouri Town 1855 today to experience Missouri in the 1850’s!

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Shawnee Town

Do a lesson straight from a 1920's reader or look at how the world has changed on a one hundred year old map in the Schoolhouse. Take orders and stock shelves in the Grocery Store. Bring your doll or teddy bear to the Barber Shop for a haircut or trim. Yes, really! Also, play vintage board games. Depending on which day you visit you can make cigar box rooms, paper pin dolls, leatherworking, feed the hens or play yard games!

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Watkins Mill

A 100-acre lake with a paved bicycle path around it, plentiful fishing, a picturesque campground and choice picnic spots make Watkins Mill State Park an ideal place for an afternoon or longer. The mill is the only 19th century textile mill in the United States with its original machinery still intact.

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Legler Barn Museum

Built in 1864, the Legler barn is one of the few stone barns still in existence in Kansas. Both temporary and permanent exhibits fill the spaces once held by livestock. On Wednesday, visitors receive a special treat with a live demonstration by the Legler Barn Quilters.

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