Used for event rental. The physical space is beautiful. Easy location, nice clean rooms, stairway,…read moreelevator, kitchen, and ladies restroom. Reservation was reasonably priced and easy to place. Plenty of tables, chairs, and power strips/extension cords were available on site, making arrangements very convenient for me.

From the owner: Restored inside and out, our historic event venue Bricker-Price Block serves as the cornerstone for…read morerenewed community life in Earlham and Madison County, extending a friendly welcome to guests from Central Iowa and beyond. Upstairs, the Hadley Family Social Club, with its classic arched windows, tall tin ceilings and refinished wood floors, is a beautiful setting for birthday parties, weddings, receptions, rehearsal dinners, wedding or bridal showers, fundraisers, corporate meetings and any other special life events. Our community event venue is also host to unique events like our annual Harvest Gathering Farm-to-Table Dinner and our Family-Friendly & Late Night Trivia Events. The proceeds from these events go right back to providing affordable programming for our youth during our Kid's Club Summer Camps and for our local senior citizens through our Senior Speaker Series.

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.

Gayle and I recently took my Dad out on a road trip from Ames to Winterset. He'd been here before,…read morebut we took him along anyway as he enjoys the ride. Our 2nd stop along the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway was the Cedar Covered Bridge, which you can drive through. The Cedar Bridge (previously known as the Casper or Storrs Bridge) was built in 1883, with a span length of 78 feet. Cedar Bridge originally crossed Cedar Creek 2.7 miles northeast of Winterset, on what is now Highway 169, before being moved in 1920 to its present location. The original cost of the bridge was $2,964.73. The Cedar Bridge carried traffic until 1920, when it was moved to its current site over Cedar Creek. Here it functioned in place until it too was bypassed in 1964 by another bridge. It now acts as the centerpiece of a small park. An illustration of Cedar Bridge graces the cover of the novel, The Bridges of Madison County, by Robert James Waller. Oprah Winfrey came to Winterset in the spring of 1993 and filmed an episode of her show from the lawn around Cedar Bridge. A set of stairs descending the bank near the bridge was built for Oprah to make her entrance and these are now known as "Oprah's Steps." The 2 Covered Bridges featured in the Bridges of Madison County movie were Roseman and Holliwell.

This is the only covered bridge you can still drive across. There is a small park with it and it…read morehas a grill and tables if you want to picnic.

Want to learn more about this amazing state? Then plan your trip to take a tour of the exhibits at…read morethe Historical Building. Conveniently located near a free parking ramp and the State Capitol building (while you're at it, take a tour there too!). This building also hosts events. I have attended a roof top wedding reception and a day long symposium is the auditorium.

There are an excellent array of exhibits here! Ranging from early Iowa settler history, to civil…read morerights war, and everything in between until present day! It's free, and there's a good amount of info in short blurbs so it's all easy to read. There's interactive exhibits and it's all very clean. Definitely check this out to learn a lot about Iowa and US history in the context of Iowa. It's very kid friendly as well.

Can visit when open or make arrangements for a volunteer to show you around. Johnny's 100 birthday…read moreis coming Oct 23, 2025. Make it a day. You can also visit Corning Center for the Fine Arts and the Opera House, noth on Davis Ave, the main street in town.

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.

This is the Guthrie 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!

We visited the bridges of Madison County entirely by accident during the Covered Bridge Festival…read more That just happened to be the time that we were driving through the area and we honestly had no idea until we arrived. I honestly think the timing kind of put a damper on our experience. Instead of being able to take in the bridges quietly and enjoy this scenery, there were people everywhere including loud groups and dust was getting kicked up on us constantly. It was really difficult to find parking and there was just a general sense of disturbance of the piece and the beauty of the nature surrounding us. It was also virtually impossible to get any good photographs. I know we've come a long way and our phones can remove a person or two from a picture, but crowds of people make it much more difficult. After the first few Bridges, we figured if our visit was going to be disturbed in this way, we might as well balance things out by checking out the main festival in winterset. Unfortunately, when we arrived we realized that dogs are not allowed even though it's an outdoor fair. That made it even more frustrating because we couldn't even enjoy some kennel corn to make up for the overcrowded bridge visits. All that said, the bridges themselves are still really lovely and historical and I can see why this area is loved and that people would come from all around to celebrate the bridges. I would still recommend coming to take a look at them, but definitely to avoid the festival weekend if you're looking for a more peaceful, reflective experience.

I took a tour through the chamber of commerce and had Jewel as my tour guide. She was very…read moreinformative and fun to be around. I loved all of the history that she shared with me and all of the personal stories in between. Highly recommend!

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.