Living History Farms is proud to celebrate "Fall for the Farms" through September in partnership with Wellmark, Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Quilters - Don't miss our Pioneer Piecing Tour October 8-12, 2008. Click here for more information.

Children's Apprentice Day
Saturday, September 6, 11 am to 4 pm

Children were active members of the nineteenth century workforce, performing household tasks, farm chores, and apprentice jobs with local tradesmen. Spend a day experiencing the tools and tasks in the life of an 1875 kid. Throughout Walnut Hill, children will be invited to assist tradesmen with printing, cabinetmaking, broom-making, blacksmithing, as well as household chores, school lessons and even a few craft projects to take home.

Barn Dance at the Historic Flynn Barn
Saturday, September 6

Barn Dances are back at Living History Farms! Learn the dances while listening to the Flying Pig Fiddle and Banjo band in the historic Flynn Barn. No experience is necessary since all of the dances are taught. Dances take place the first Saturday of every month from 8 – 11 p.m. Parking is available at the Living History Farms Visitor Center. Admission is $6.00 per person and all are welcome.

Prairie Meadows Horse and Buggy Days
Saturday and Sunday, September 13-14

Horses and rigs of all kinds will fill the 1875 town of Walnut Hill and everyone is invited to line the boardwalks along Main Street at 1:00 pm on both days to enjoy an old-fashioned parade of draft horses, mules, ponies and riding and driving horses. The horses will pull authentic, hand-made carriages, spring wagons, surreys and buggies. Visitors are encouraged to cast a vote for their favorite entry. The winning entry will receive the “Town Folks Choice Award.”

Photography Day at the Farms
Saturday, September 20

Perfect your photography skills with professional photographers and representatives from the industry at locations around the museum, who will offer tips and teach trade secrets. Bring your own camera and enjoy the day in the museum’s picturesque setting.

Applefest
Saturday and Sunday, September 27-28

Come out and immerse yourself in the autumn season and share in the tastes and smells that have come to mean fall in Iowa. Beginning at 11:00 am in the 1875 town of Walnut Hill, the smell of apple butter will drift through the air as visitors help stir the wood paddle through the copper kettle of apple butter over the open fire. Lend a hand at the cider press, and savor an apple fritter fresh out of a Dutch oven. Don’t miss out on the applesauce slurp contest or water-free bobbing for apples!

Pioneer Piecing Tour Quilt Show
October 8-12, 2008

Explore the 1875 town of Walnut Hill and visit the Living History Farms Historic Quilt Show.

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 “More Than You Remember! 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 1; and Wednesday through Sunday, September 3 to October 19. 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.

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