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Saturday, September 13, 2014

Johnson County Historical Museum

After touring the antique car museum, we walked into the other part of the building, the Johnson County Historical Museum.  
One wall was decorated with old maps of Iowa counties, and there were informational boards with stories of life in Johnson county.  The photo on the left shows the last graduating class from an old two-story schoolhouse (1899).

 
 There was a display on Swaner's Dairies which served the community for nearly a century and replicas of the Old Capitol in Iowa City, a log cabin, and a tent.  Also on display was a plow. 
The pioneer life was hard! The handcart on the right was available for visitors to unhitch and try; however, the "supplies" were not nearly as heavy as the pioneers would have had to pull.
The printing press on the left and the cash register with an old dollar bill on the right were two of the most interesting displays in the museum.  

Our friend, fellow chess player, and Team League teammate(!) Tim pulled out a dollar to compare with the one on display.  The older bill was noticeably quite larger than modern bills.  It also certified that its owner actually had a dollar's worth of silver at the U.S. Treasury--you are *not* going to see that on today's dollars.  
There was a display on trading posts and a case of arrowheads.  On the right and below left the display on Iowa farm wives is pictured.
 Farm houses (as shown on the right) are definitely not a thing of the past.  Iowa is dotted with homesteads throughout the countryside everywhere, but they are ever so slowly disappearing as the old folks die or sell out to bigger farmers, and their children move to the cities.

Our visit to the Johnson County Historical Museum was a pleasant addition to our tour of the antique cars, reminding us of the Iowa that was, and still is in some ways unchanged, a beautiful, bountiful land.  

32 comments:

  1. Aren't maps wonderful, Bethany? They fascinate me, and I enjoyed seeing the other exhibits you shared as well. Thanks!

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    1. Yes, maps look pretty neat...and are quite useful! My road map isn't as neat as the maps featured on the walls, but I sure like to keep it handy to help plan trips and not get lost on trips!

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  2. some neat displays. you're right about the currency. :)

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    1. Thanks! That's one thing I *wish* I were wrong about ;)

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  3. So neat! And I loved your last two posts, as well! :-) I've only driven through Iowa, but I hope to visit soon (it's so close)!

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    1. Thanks Gabriela! You should tour Iowa sometime--lots of neat places to see!

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  4. This looks like a really thorough and interesting museum! How neat to have all that history about your place.

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    1. Yes, it was a great addition to our car museum tour!

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  5. looks like they had some very cool displays. this sounds like it was a fun trip!! have a happy sunday beth!!

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  6. Bethany all photos are interesting the photo of school . But the same cash register I have seen in Sanok in Museum Architecture of Folk. It was in the old chemist's. One of my post from August. Have a nice week.

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    1. Oh wow...interesting, isn't it, that we can see some of the same things an ocean and continent apart! Have a great week as well! Thanks!

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  7. What a wonderful museum filled with rich history. I love the old printing press!

    Thanks for sharing with us - your posts are always very enjoyable. Have a lovely week!

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  8. Wowww, I've always found antiques fascinating!
    Wonderful and unique blog you have there<3
    June
    The Journeys' of my beating heart

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    1. Thanks for visiting June! Nice to meet you in the blogging world! :)

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  9. I love that little log cabin replica! How cool!

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    1. It would be a fun project to build--doesn't look too complicated, but I'm not sure how well it would keep out the wind, snow and rain! I sincerely hope the pioneers did a better job of sealing between the logs!

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  10. Wow! That is so cool! Those are amazing pictures, I would love to visit one day! :D

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    1. Thanks! I hope some day you get the chance to visit there or some place like it! :)

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  11. I love studying history and find it so fascinating. This museum looks like a great place to study your local history. And yes, we can't even imagine how hard those pioneers had it! Thanks for sharing Bethany.

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    1. Thank you Deborah! It must have been pretty rough for them without stores...or in the winter sometimes snowed in so they couldn't get to stores. We do quite a bit of canning/freezing each year, but living off just our preserved produce would be pretty hard for me in the winter!

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  12. Bonjour Bethany,
    Je te remercie pour ton gentil message laissé sur mon blog et merci également pour cette charmante visite au musée historique, tes photos sont vraiment belles ♥

    Je t'embrasse

    Manon

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  13. Museums are such fascinating places. I haven't been in such a long time, but after reading your post, I think I'll plan a trip to our local museum really soon... :)

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    1. All the best in your trip! Museums can be pretty neat to see!

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  14. Thanks for letting me know about your blog!

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  15. I LOVE historical museums; they are so much fun to tour. Look at that cash register! That is incredible. Things have certainly changed!

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  16. I love history.

    Thanks for coming by to visit.

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  17. What an interesting museum, I have always been amazed by piooner living in general, I believe we can learn plenty from their old ways and apply it to our modern days.

    I love the photos, the small cabin is just too cute! but I must admit the mannequin with the piooner dress does look quite scary I wouldn't like to encounter with something like that in the middle of the night lol... Thanks for sharing.

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    1. The mannequin shows what pioneer life could do to a person...just look at how thin she is! ha...seriously, I don't think I'd like to meet her in the middle of the night either ;). Thanks for your comment, always love hearing from you!

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