Independence Historical Museum & Art Center — Attraction in Independence

I was visiting a friend in Independence and she took me to visit the Historical Museum & Art Center. What a delightful experience! The museum is housed in the original town post office; it's a grand old building which has been lovingly preserved, and most of the architectural details are still present. The main level is primarily an open gallery (which, on the day of our visit, was being prepared for a High Tea fundraiser the next afternoon; it was a treat to see all the lovely place settings at the tables!) with smaller galleries surrounding it (we weren't able to view most of these due to the preparations). Upstairs are three rooms furnished in the period as, respectively, an upper-class home's dining room; a barber shop; and a shoe shine booth. The basement is creatively partitioned into roughly twenty "rooms" of exhibit spaces, filled with everything from a 1869 log cabin to a general store, a blacksmith's shop, a school room, and other similar reconstructions from Independence's history. It was fascinating to learn about some of the famous people from Independence, and some of the interesting events that happened there (like the first night game in organized baseball, back in 1930). Many thanks to Theresa, our volunteer guide, who was SO welcoming and hospitable and spent some time chatting with us after our tour had finished. All of the volunteers are so dedicated, and the museum is the showpiece of their devoted work. Thank you for such a...

I visited 12/30/22. The bottom floor, which is expansive is free to visit. The rest of the museum costs $5.00. If I had the time I would have viewed the rest of the museum. I'm an architecture buff and this used to be a post office. When it was built they spared no expense. Even the brass radiators are still functioning. It's got a WOOD revolving entrance door and a CAST IRON spiral staircase to the second floor. If you're not "in" to old buildings that doesn't mean anything to you but it did to me. Also they have a baseball room. Apparently Mickey Mantle played in a farm league that was based in Independence. It's an awesome museum, wished I had the time to...

My wife and I absolutely love this museum. We drove from Wichita to visit the museum and it was well worth the drive. Not only did we enjoy the artifacts contained in the building, but the building itself! Fascinating story behind this old government building. We intend to go back again. Our tour guide was a great guy and very knowledgeable. We often talk about it with fond memories...