Visit Us
406 E. 4th Street, City Park
Wamego, KS 66547
Hours:
Mar 15 - Oct 15: Tu-Su 1-4pm;
Oct 16 - Mar 14: Th-Su 1-4pm;
And by appointment.
Admission: Adults-$3; Military-Free; Students thru high school-$1; Age 6 & under-Free.
Directions
1-70 Exit 328 at Hwy 99 turn
Right at the first stop light.
OR
At Hwys 24 & 99 intersection go
South to stop light, turn left.
Membership
Membership information is available here. Send the completed form along with membership amount to the address on the form.
Helpful Links
While visiting the Wamego area you might find these links helpful:
Columbian Theatre
Oz Museum
Pottawatomie Economic Development Corporation
Visit Wamego
Prairie Town Village
The Village consists of a series of adjacent buildings, -- a log cabin, the first Pottawatomie County Jail from 1872, the Wamego Telephone Exchange building, a general store moved to Wamego from Flush and a restored one-room school. Attached to the museum is the Transportation Building.
Inside
the Transportation Building is a 1950 Chrysler Coupe with original paint, tires and upholstery and only 31,000 miles on the odometer. Wamego is the birthplace of Walter P. Chyrsler (1875), who founded the Chrysler Corporation. His father was an engineer for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, which is now the Union Pacific Railroad.
The museum has many interesting displays. There is a cross-cut section of one of the limbs of the famous Louis Vieux Elm. The section is more than three feet in diameter. Originally the Louis Vieux Elm was a huge tree located along the Oregon Trail northeast of Wamego. For many years the elm was certified as the largest American elm tree in the U.S. Lightning and vandals destroyed the once famous tree.
The museum is fortunate to have several items from Wamego's Ames House Hotel. Items include a registration book containing such names as Cornelius Vanderbilt, P. T. Barnum and John Jacob Astor. There is also a table from the hotel's dining room, the hotel's key/mailing slot cabinet and board from the structure's exterior. The hotel was one of the first hotels in Kansas and Wamego and was located near the railroad tracks on Lincoln Avenue. A windmill pumped water to the roof of the hotel, thus providing water which was very rare in those early days. This provided water for the first bathtub to exist west of the Mississippi River. These 'fineries' made the Ames Hotel a very popular overnight stay for the traveling men going west to sell their wares, gentleman on a hunting excursion for buffalo and also for 19th century railroad travelers.
There is a display of uniforms and paraphernalia from the Civil War, WWI, WWII and other wars to the present.
A full-body taxidermy buffalo is on display. Her name is Abigail. Abigail was a twin born near Paxico, Kansas. Her mother abandoned her in favor of her twin brother and so she was bottle fed by her owner-family. She was raised by the owner's daughter and when she became a little too frisky, she was turned out with the herd until her death at the age of 15. Because of the family's attachment, the decision was made to have her body preserved by a taxidermist and in 2004 the Museum acquired her for all to see and enjoy.
Balderson blacksmithing tools and forge used by Neil Balderson are on display. The business later grew to become Balderson Inc. and eventually the Caterpillar Company, Inc. which exists today in Wamego.
There are many other interesting displays you will enjoy.
