Very informative and interesting. The staff is amazing! I enjoyed my entire visit and walked away…read morefeeling informed. 10 out of 10 experience.

This was such a fun tour!!you get to see an old village and explore what life was like when Pella…read morewas a new town. It's a good way to spend a few hours especially if it's nice out! The guided tour takes you up in the working mill ( which you can buy wheat flour from) to a beautiful little mini village complete with train going around it! It's fun for all ages, but just don't let little ones wander off with all of the antiques all over. Can't wait to come back when they are doing demonstrations during the Tulip Time Festival.

I like to squeeze in a museum when I can in a city that is unfamiliar to me. This stop was truly on…read morea whim. My main reason for dropping by Des Moines was to see an Iowa Wild game. The following day, I had to leave the city and head back to Bloomington. I wanted to do a quick touristy visit somewhere. I did a search and found Jordan House Museum. Driving over here was enjoyable. The leaves were a gorgeous deep red in the area. I had no problem finding the museum. When you are pulling into the parking lot, you do not want to come in at full force. I didn't because I was checking the house out. The lot where you park your car is all gravel. When you walk up to the museum, it is thankfully cement. If you want a tour of the museum, you do need to book online. Even if you book online, it's based on demand. If there aren't enough folks who want to do the tour, it gets cancelled. I saw the cancellation sign on the door. Since I visited because I felt like it, I still learned a lot with the signs and information presented to me. I was not disappointed. I also like self-exploration, which may not be for everyone. Jordan House was built by James Cuttingham Jordan, who was an abolitionist. This house was a station on the Underground Railroad in Iowa. It ended up being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. James Jordan was a cattle farmer from Virginia. He settled in central Iowa in 1846. He was a businessman, organizing the State Bank of Des Moines. He helped bring the railroad to Des Moines. He ultimately ended up being a civic leader, and was elected to both the Iowa Senate and the Iowa House of Representatives. He helped move the state capital from Iowa City to Des Moines. I had no idea that Iowa City was once the state capital. Cool! There is a pathway to history in front of the main entrance of this house, where you can reserve a brick and have it dedicated to a special loved one. I spent a lot of time reading the messages on this pathway. It was highly enjoyable and moving on a Fall day. My favourite saying came from the Caruthers family: Be so awesome today that tomorrow is jealous!!! Three exclamation points. Love it! There was one other woman who had pulled into the lot next to my rental car. She did not do any self-exploration. She went to the main door, saw that the tour was cancelled, headed back to her vehicle, and left. The house is well-maintained on the outside. It has a veranda with a bunch of green chairs. The lawn was recently mowed. The small shrubs around the flags at the front were perfectly trimmed. I had a nice, off-the-cuff visit to this museum. I learned a lot and hope to do a tour inside the museum whenever I'm back in Des Moines for hopefully a longer visit. (458)

Great tour. Guide was very knowledgeable. Home has several of the original articles. We took our 3…read moreteenagers, 2 girls(12&14) and a boy (15), and they all enjoyed it. Not once did they get on their phone due to boredom.

Great resource and people Lots there lots to look at worth…read morea trip to if you enjoy history and want to learn more

This is the Keokuk County Freedom Rock. Completing the Freedom Rock tour of all 99 Iowa counties…read moreis something my girlfriend and I have been working on for the past few years. We are four rocks away from the end of our journey at this time. Not only do we learn about the military involvement and the contributions of veterans in each county... A lot of times we stumble on other hidden gems, that we had no idea even existed, as we venture further into our own backyard. As happy as I am going to be when hit 99 and finish our Freedom Rock Tour...a little part of me is going to really miss these trips. We'll just have to find another "tour" to pick up! When you are checking out each Freedom Rock make sure you explore the surrounding area for other points of interest. And please remember to support local businesses...! Visit https://www.thefreedomrock.com/ for more information on Iowa's Freedom Rocks and the tour!

Unfortunately when I visited the visitor's center was closed, but I still had a blast! There is a…read morelot that you can park in, and then travel down a path to a bunch of informational displays about the flood in 1993 that carved out this gorge, revealing all of the fossils. Then, you proceed down the path into a gorge, keeping an eye out for fossils. I saw a bunch of fossils on the bank to my right, before I even made it to the gorge. There were a few people scattered walking their dogs, although one group was actively looking to spot fossils and had the brochure from the Army Corps of Engineers about the different fossils present. All in all, this was a great spot to spend an hour walking around. I did see evidence that people have poached fossils from here, which is a shame. Look, but don't take!

Open area with lots to look at. I'm surprised they let people walk over these fossil imprints. Much…read moreof the rock is cracked and loose. Much of the area has numbers imbedded into the ground to help you find the things.

Terre Haute Cemetary is weird. It's supposedly haunted. I've spent many a drunken night in this…read morecreepy place. I've heard a little boy plays on a swing here and then when he sees you he leads you to his grave then disappears. I have never witnessed this. Check it out sometime if you're in the middle of nowhere in Iowa. Oh yeah and it's pronounced "Terry Hut". Just FYI.

Want to travel back in time? This preservation site includes historical buildings, tools, picture,…read moretoys, implements, documents and more. We are lucky enough to having loving relatives to guide us thru these olden structures that feel, at once, like they were created not that long ago and could still be utilized today.

I went to the Gold Star Military Museum and had a wonderful experience with my group. They start…read morewith a short introduction presentation on the history of Camp Dodge and the significance in Iowa. They then let you roam through the exhibits, giving tidbits of information and are around to answer questions as they come up. I was impressed with the quantity and quality of items they had on display for each war Iowa has been involved in. They also have many of the large vehicles, tanks, and aircrafts outside to drive past or walk around. Highly recommend to all Iowans!

This is a beautiful base to live near. There is a museum on base that you can visit. There used to…read morebe a gigantic Olympic pool years ago. Now over the top of the pool is a beautiful outdoor gala and set up for different activities. One in particular is during the summer they host free concert nights. Open to the public, free, and perfect way to enjoy the nice summer evenings and get to mingle with people who live or visit the base. There is a small chapel and the other area that is open to rent for weddings, parties or what have you.

Lovely video before the tour of the studio. This man did a lot of things!…read moreThe studio tour was informative and descriptive of the transition/creativeness of making the loft into a livable space.

Definitely wanted to share my positive experience at this amazing place. The free tour starts with…read morea well-produced video that immerses you into the world of Grant Wood: personal history, career history, accolades and awards, and great backstories to many of his iconic creations. I highly recommend you see this video before attending the art museum, because it is great reference to prime you for what you will see in person. The studio tour is great, and as you are shown all of the features of the studio and are told about its background, what truly amazes is that Wood crafted it all out of a simple, primitive hayloft -- Everything. Keep that in mind, because your respect for him will multiply exponentially. My hosts, Dan and Kevin, were both friendly, accommodating and very knowledgeable -- the passion they both have for the space is authentic and contagious. Extremely pleased I went!

An unexpected find on the property of the Iowa State Capitol was the Iowa Holocaust Memorial. But I…read moreguess I shouldn't really be surprised - many of the concentration camp liberators were Iowa citizens and many of the concentration camp survivors moved here after the war. Lists of the camps and the dates of their liberation are here as are many quotes from survivors and other notables. How do we bring about "Never again!"? By educating people and reminding them of the horrors that came before us. Kudos to Iowa on building this great memorial.

This Holocaust memorial is right in front of the Iowa State Capitol, just down the steps. We were…read morewondering around downtown and came across this somewhat small but mighty memorial. It was an excellent time to talk to our son about history and reflection. It was especially interesting to me as a German citizen and I recognized some of the cities in the pictures; the regions where I grew up. This sparked some great conversations among us and a good time to learn more about each other and our past as a while world. It is beautifully made to last forever surrounded by the front lawn of the Capitol and flower gardens. Make sure you stop by when in the area. Lots to be learned and reflected on here...