Cultivating Our Future at Living History Farms

Along with sprouts and seedlings, there’s another addition to Urbandale’s Living History Farms landscape this spring: the Kemin Cultivation Center, which will celebrate its ribbon-cutting on Thursday, May 1, 2025. It is part of the Cultivating Our Future Capital Campaign, which is transforming the museum from a seasonal attraction to a year-round destination.

Prairie Schooner Wagon in Exhibit Hall

About the Kemin Cultivation Center

The new building more than doubles the modern indoor space at the front of the museum campus while adding a climate-controlled exhibit hall and accessible amenities including a family restroom, an adult changing station and a mother’s room. The first two exhibits in the new hall are “Immigrant Letters, Oceans Apart,” telling the story of Swedish immigration through the words of people who lived it, and “Moving Day,” displaying our prairie schooner wagon (pictured above) and inviting guests to consider what they might pack for a life-changing journey. In addition to serving as a new public entrance, the building houses the MarketPlace Museum Store and administrative offices.

Just steps outside the Kemin Cultivation Center is another component of the capital campaign. The new MidAmerican Energy Foundation Pavilion offers sheltered seating for up to 88 people, whether classes on school field trips or families enjoying a midday meal during their visit. (As always, guests are welcome to bring their own food and drink and picnic with us!) Soon to come is a firepit in the courtyard connecting the Cultivation Center and the Pavilion. Outside regular museum hours, the Pavilion will be available to rent for community events.

MidAmerican Energy Foundation Picnic Pavilion

In November, we will begin the final phase of this transformative project. The former Visitor Center will be converted to a year-round Learning Center for school visits, Living History Farms Day Camp, Historic Skills Classes and other education programs. Busloads of students and teachers will have their own entrance to the museum grounds. Day Camp families will have a paved road to reach drop-off and pick-up. Flexible spaces will greatly increase our class capacity and allow us to expand programming throughout the winter, when guests cannot tour our historic sites, most of which have no HVAC, electricity or running water. The new Learning Center will open in spring 2026 as part of our yearlong celebration of the semiquincentennial of the United States.

Pioneer Wedding at the 1850 Farm

As a result of the $6.2 million Cultivating Our Future Capital Campaign, Living History Farms’ annual economic impact on the community is expected to grow by an estimated $1 million, from $5.9 million to $6.9 million. This will generate an estimated $200,000 in annual hotel/motel taxes, nearly $300,000 in state tax revenue, and more than $800,000 in federal taxes. FEH Architectural Firm and the Ball Team are designing and building the new spaces.

Ribbon Cutting

We invite you to help us celebrate the official opening of the Kemin Cultivation Center and the MidAmerican Energy Foundation Pavilion this Thursday. Refreshments will be served at 8: 15 a.m., with brief remarks at 8: 30 a.m. and an open house beginning at 8: 45 a.m. The museum opens at 9 a.m. for those who wish to purchase admission. Find more information or RSVP.

Moving Forward While Looking Back

Living History Farms opened in 1970. Our founder, Dr. William Murray, envisioned the museum as “not just a dusty place where you see yesterday’s utensils and machinery under glass. You see things being used, a re-creation of things in action, stretching from the past through the present and into the future.”

True to Dr. Murray’s vision, visitors can fully immerse themselves in the lives of our ancestors on this land. They can feel the vast open sky overhead, hear the clang of the blacksmith’s hammer, smell the freshly turned soil and watch food prepared the way it was a century ago, with simple ingredients and careful hands.

Iowa’s fertile soil has drawn humans here for thousands of years, and this land has been shaped by those who call it home. The Indigenous Ioway people knew that corn, beans, and squash—the Three Sisters — thrived when grown together. Pioneers brought the power of horses and oxen, and the arrival of the railroad connected Iowa farmers to the fruits of the Industrial Revolution. Living History Farms shows this evolution of farming at our three working farm sites representing the years 1700, 1850 and 1900, and in our 1876 town of Walnut Hill.

Blacksmith in the 1876 town

Visitors encounter skilled historic interpreters in period clothing, demonstrating how people worked and lived in the past. They bring to life the craftsmanship, labor, and ingenuity that define each era. From blacksmiths shaping iron to homemakers preparing meals, from farmers guiding horse-drawn plows to shopkeepers measuring goods — every detail tells a story of survival, adaptation and a life deeply connected to the land. Even the animals have a role to play, just as they did generations before. We hope to inspire curiosity, appreciation and a connection to the past.

INSERT 1700 IOWAY FARM IMAGE

Summer lodge at the 1700 Ioway Farm

Coming Events

Living History Farms presents special event days throughout the regular season. All activities are included with general admission to the museum:

• Saturday, May 3, 2025: Fido on the Farms + Fido Fun Run – Walk or run a half-mile or mile around our historic town with your favorite four-legger, then stay to enjoy the museum.
• Saturday, May 24, 2025: Decoration Day – Dive into the 19th-century origins and meaning of Memorial Day.
• Friday, May 30, 2025: Spring Homeschool Day – A day for families to explore and learn together.
• Saturday, June 7, 2025: Circuit Court Day – Witness re-enactments of real-life court cases from 19th-century Iowa.
• Saturday, June 14, 2025: Emancipation Day + Historic Baseball – A look at what emancipation meant in the state of Iowa.
• Saturday, June 21, 2025: Medicine Shows – Dr. Savage and his traveling troupe will try to sell you on the benefits of Swamp Root Elixir.
• Saturday, June 28, 2025: Pioneer Wedding – Witness an 1850-style ceremony, and help the “newlyweds” pack for their journey to a new life.
• Friday, July 4, 2025: Independence Day + Medicine Show + Historic Baseball – A truly old-fashioned Fourth in the 1876 town of Walnut Hill, where it’s always the centennial of the United States.
• Saturday, July 26, 2025: Grain Harvest – See how farming technology has changed through the years, and try your hand at some old techniques.
• Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025: Medicine Shows
• Friday, Sept. 5, 2025: Fall Homeschool Day
• Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025: Cast-Iron Cook-Off + Medicine Shows – Cooks at several of our historic sites compete to prepare menus with secret surprise ingredients.
• Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025: Applefest + Medicine Shows + Historic Baseball – Celebrate apple harvest season with special activities, crafts, and more.
• Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025: Victorian Funeral – Experience 19th-century traditions of mourning.
• Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025: Indigenous Iowans Day – Learn about the very first farmers on this land.

Check the Events Calendar for the latest Living History Farms event information.

More Information

Living History Farms, 11121 Hickman Road in Urbandale, is open to the public beginning Thursday, May 1, 2025, Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. General Admission is $20 for adults, $15 for children age 2 through 12, and free for children 1 and under. Members receive free admission during public hours. From November through April, programs are available by reservation. More information at LHF.org.

Throughout Greater Des Moines’ (DSM’s) 11-county region, a thriving economic environment is attracting more Investors to do business. Learn more about other recent development projects in the region.

The Greater Des Moines Partnership calendar of events is a one-stop resource for activities taking place throughout the region. Find networking information for Greater Des Moines (DSM) businesses, including Chamber luncheons, roundtables and ribbon cuttings. You can also find live music happening each week thanks to the “Live Music This Week in DSM” blog series.