Living History Farms is proud to celebrate "Standing Tall" through July in partnership with the Monsanto Fund.

Beer-B-Q
Thursday, July 24, 6-9 pm

Join us for great beer from Granite City, Rock Bottom, and Olde Main Breweries and some outstanding Bar-B-Q from The Smokehouse.  $15 per person or $25 per couple gets you a Bar-B-Q sandwich, one Millstream draught beer, beer samples, horse-drawn wagon rides, and music from a great local band, Flying Silos.  Bring lawn chairs or blankets. Tickets available at the door.  All proceeds benefit Living History Farms. 

Birthdays on the Farm
Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27

Children’s birthdays were celebrated in many different ways during Iowa’s past. Rites of passage for the Ioway, homemade presents for the pioneer and fancy parties for the wealthy Victorian all marked another year in a child’s life. Celebrate birthdays through time with hands-on activities across the museum. The Flynn Country Home will highlight the festivities with treats and Victorian party favors.

Good Sport! Good Show! Weekend
Saturday and Sunday, August 2-3

All work and no play made even our ancestors grumpy! Fun and games had their place just as much as chores and hard work. Spend a weekend exploring the leisure time entertainments of our forefathers. On Saturday, enjoy the music and dramatics of Victorian Iowa, including a concert from the Walnut Hill Choral Society. On Sunday, games will be the order of the day. Sports fans will cheer on the Walnut Hill Bluestockings as they play 1875 rules baseball at 2:00 p.m.

Haymaking
Saturday and Sunday, August 9-10

Bring your family out to learn how farmers in the past harvested a hay crop. Experience first-hand the processes used to cut, rake and store the hay that will feed our livestock all winter. Walk through the hay field where a hay stacker and machinery of many eras will be demonstrated. Demonstrations will be weather dependent.

Pork and Beans Weekend
Saturday and Sunday, August 23-24

Modern Iowa agricultural is entwined with pork and soybeans. Explore the origins of these Iowa industries and discover a few uses for beans you may not have considered before! Compare the merits of an old-fashioned lard hog to a modern lean one, and learn how our ancestors preserved their meats. Visit the Wallace Exhibit center to see how soybeans are being used for everything from side dishes to tractor fuel. From 11:00 am to 2:00 pm on Sunday only, sample locally grown tomatoes, locally raised or processed bacon and locally baked bread and then build your own BLT as Living History Farms showcases the fantastic flavors of fresh Iowa foods.

Travel Through 300 Years of Iowa’s Agricultural Heritage

At Living History Farms, visitors experience first-hand what it was like to live on an Ioway Indian farm, on a pioneer farmstead, in an early Iowa town, on a farm from 100 years ago and what farming is like today!

Discover America’s agricultural heritage as you walk through three working farms, each with authentic crops and livestock. Learn how Native Americans grew crops in Iowa at the 1700 Farm. See how early farmers opened the prairie with oxen at the 1850 Farm. Find out how horse-power and cast-iron machines revolutionized agriculture at the 1900 Farm. Then, reconnect with today’s agriculture in the Wallace Exhibit Center where you can see the many ways two-percent of the people in the United States (farmers) feed, clothe - and even fuel - the other 98 percent.

In the 1875 town of Walnut Hill, join in the excitement of a bustling Iowa town with 14 homes, shops and businesses including a general store, blacksmith shop, print shop, drug store, implement warehouse and two Victorian homes.

Historical interpreters work at each of the farms, homes and shops and are ready to show you the whats, whens, hows and whys of everyday life in the past. The sights, sounds, smells and sensations at the sites will immerse you in history.

During June, July and August, you can really “Give Us a Hand! at Living History Farms.” Just grab your FREE pair of work gloves and try something new every day with hands-on activities for the entire family.

Celebrate Iowa with Lee Kline

Veteran farm broadcaster Lee Kline has compiled his favorite interviews into a five volume collection now available on CD and cassette. The "Lee Kline’s Iowa Notebooks" show both the serious and humorous sides of Iowa. All proceeds from the CD and tape sales go to Living History Farms. Lee Kline entertained and informed generations of Iowa radio listeners with the sounds and stories of rural life for more than 40 years on WHO Radio, Des Moines. Raised in Conrad, Iowa, Lee began his daily "Iowa Notebook" features when he joined WHO in 1954. He continues to file occasional broadcasts recounting interesting stories gathered from recent travel in Iowa and around the globe.

To get your copy of Lee's tapes or CDs visit our MarketPlace on your next visit!

Living History Farms is open daily, May 1 to September 3; and Wednesday through Sunday, September 5 to October 21. Hours are: 9 am to 5 pm daily. Admission is: Adults, $11.00; Child (4-12) $6.00; Senior Citizen (60+), $10.00. For a special events update, call (515) 278-2400. Living History Farms is located at 2600 111th Street (exit #125 from the combined interstates 35/80), Urbandale, Iowa.

Don't lose your handle!
If you would like to be regularly informed about activities and special events, please submit your email address here and we will add you to our email list. Your privacy is protected as we will not sell or give this information away to any third party.

Join Our Email List Email: