Exploring the 1860's-1880's at Old Cowtown Museum // Wichita, Kansas
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- Опубликовано: 12 июл 2023
- Wichita, Kansas, is my current home and I've been to Cowtown a few times, but never had I really explored around all the buildings and exhibits. This time I tried to document it the best I could, although I still left out a bunch of stuff. There are over 50 buildings and 10,000 artifacts to see in Cowtown. They're really done a great job showing what it would be like to live in the 1860-1880 time period. It's free on Sundays and only costs $9 for adults the rest of the week (closed Mondays). If you're ever in Wichita you should check it out!
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Music
Western Spaghetti - Chris Haugen
Drankin Song - Kevin MacLeod
I loved Cowtown growing up. My Girl Scout troop got to go there one year around Christmas to dress up in the clothes from that time and sing Christmas carols. That was in the early 2000s, but I still cherish those memories!
I was born in Wichita Kansas I don't remember it much but, how ironic I grew up loving old houses, sunflowers, and tornado chasing. I was raised in NY. ❤
When I was 11 years old I was a Girl Scout volunteer at Wichita Cowtown. That was in 1962.
I used to be a volunteer out there when I was a child. I portrayed Olivia Dunning. The sheriff's daughter. I love Cowtown. Thank you so much for making this.
Nice! I bet that was fun!!
@@TravelwithaWiseguy it was. The gentleman who portrayed the sheriff has a memorial in the Marshalls office. He was like another grandfather to me. My mom met him through her job and they became good friends. I miss him but I'm happy to see he lives in through Cowtown.
I haven't been in about 20 years, when my children were little. Looks like they've changed a few things.
I've lived in Wichita for three years, but I've never actually gone to look through Cowtown.
Another cool place to explore for history is Boot hill Museum in Dodge City, Kansas. There's over 20,000 artifacts (including a bunch of original guns), with simulated gunfights and shows. Went in 2013 with my mom and two aunts, we spent several hours walking through and learning so much, one of our favorite memories. Wish I knew about Cowtown before mom passed, she would've loved it.
Yes Boot Hill is very interesting. A lot of history in that town!
We used to go there all the time when I was in grade school in the 1960s. The dental office was my favorite. So it's no wonder that I became a dentist!
Haha awesome!
Sundays are free with local ID. Love this place!
Actually I think it’s just free for everyone. No one asked me for an ID.
As the saying goes. "Been there, done that," but had no idea how many buildings were there or the size of the property! Impressive! Thanks for the teaching moment!
My pleasure 😂😂
This was a lot of fun. I love seeing the old school desks with the ink wells. Somehow, my third grade class was stuck with those desks in 1960.
Haha I remember having some of those too 😂
The Elevator came from Bentley Kansas not Burlington, I grew up one block south of where that Elevator once stood. I remember when they took it apart in 3 sections and moved it to Wichita Cowtown
I love Cowtown, the Victorian Christmas in December is really special.
I was born in Wichita Kansas and im 8 years old and I when I was 7 years I went to cow town
Thanks for the memories. Was stationed at McConnell AFB in the early 80's. Still love to pop into Wichita. It's changed alot over the years, but still a great place.
It has definitely changed a lot! Enjoy living here - thanks for watching!
Really nice video on "Cowtown". I've been in and around Wichita over the years, heard about Cowtown, just never realized it had this much to offer. Thanks for showing off a part of your home town!
Yeah I’ve lived here 17 years and it finally took this to get me to really visit 😂😂 Thanks!
Great job, I recommend you visit Fort Scott National Historic site, built in 1842. very interesting and completely restored.
Would love to check it out someday!
Thank you
What a great place to visit. It's sad that as time goes on the old days get shuffled a little farther back. Glad there are places like this that we can look to to see where we came from and how our ancestors sacrificed so we can have this life. Looked like a beautiful Kansas day for exploring. Thanks for taking us along, I appreciate all you do so we can enjoy these places as well. Stay safe and GOD bless
Thank you! It was a little warm but nice and sunny like a typical Kansas summer day! Fun to walk around and learn the history of the area!
I live in rural Leon Ks. I’ve been to Cow Town several times and I still love going. This is a great video. Thanks for showcasing it.
My coworker Pat Wilson is from Leon! Great town!
The steer was trying to horn in on your video. That looks like a great place to visit. Kid friendly and they even had accommodations for your short wooly friends.
😂😂 a little something for everyone!
@@TravelwithaWiseguy that's why we love your videos John. You're a crowd pleaser. Now find me a wooly mammoth would ya? At least a Tasmanian devil
Some of my best memories were from Cowtown during the summers in the 70’s. That is when Cowtown teamed up the Girl Scouts in the area. My mom was one of the 2 lady’s that was in charge of the Girl Scouts. Each girl was assigned a building and when people came to that building the scout would tell them them the history of that building. If they were short a scout for the day my mom would have me fill in at buildings missing a scout, I was only about 7 or 8. By the end of the summer I would have all the histories for each building memorized and wouldn’t have to use the paper to read from. Back then there was also a horse and a donkey that had free range of the property, their names were Toby and Tag a long, they were my best friends. My older sisters were Girl Scouts so they each were assigned buildings to give tours in. So basically Cowtown was my playground in summers and I loved it. One of my sisters now makes homemade Jelly that is sold in the souvenir shop. It has changed a lot since the days I grew up there.
Thank you so much for sharing! That would’ve been a great way to spend the summers for a youngster!!
I was a girl scout in the early 2000s and sang Christmas carols there one year. It was so much fun!
What awesome memories you have about cowtown! Thanks for sharing!🤠
My parents got married at cowtown, in the church. It's super known for being haunted! In their wedding album there are translucent figures in some of the upstairs windows. Super creepy! They offer ghost tours around Halloween too which is pretty cool!
😮 👻
Great video I remember going to cowtown on school trips when I was a kid. I only have one critique/ correction for you the grain elevator came out of Bentley Ks not Burlington. I can remember back in the mid to late 80s when they dismantled it and moved it to cowtown because it was literally right down the street from my house.
Thank you!
We’ve visited there a couple times. It’s a must see in Wichita! 🏆
Didn't know this place existed. Thanks for taking us through the area, very interesting. I really enjoy this kind of stuff. TFS
Thanks! They’ve done a nice job with it!
In all the years I lived in Wichita I never did go to Cowtown, grandkids loved the SG Co Zoo. But I may have to make time to stop in there sometime. Thanks for the tour🌻🐝
Definitely worth a visit!
I've lived here in Wichita Kansas since I was a year and half and never been there.
What a place to visit. Loved it all. The children's opinions were precious. What a unique place for a history lesson .
Thank you! Good place to visit for both young and old!
Interesting. Kind of similar to front street in Dodge City but bigger. The solar clothes dryer was advanced technology 😂
Yes very similar to Dodge City - same idea. We used to dry our clothes like that on the farm I grew up on 😂
I remember every Monday was wash day. Mom's wringer wash machine was in the old stone basement under the house. The two hot and two cold facets were just above and below each other in the ground level kitchen and the stone basement. Mom had the two tub stand where the wash and rinse water were retained for the next batch of clothes. Do you imagine how people would take to the reused wash and rinse waters today! Then Mom got to carry each batch up out of the basement and out to the clothesline. I especially remember bringing in the "stiff" clothes on near zero temperature days. The one advantage was how nice those clothes dried outside smelled.
Great video as always. Although it wasn't an actual town as your usual video, the content was just as super. So interesting and educational. I am ready for the next trip!
That’s great haha! And thank you - I know it’s not the normal type video but it’s good to mix it up now and then 😊
Nice video reminds me of my visit there in the 80's! Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hope you enjoyed you're visit to my hometown.
I live here too 😊
@@TravelwithaWiseguy Nice
I love going to Cowtown. during their Christmas event kids can go to outside of the bank and yell “Bah Humbug” and Scrooge comes out and tosses them chocolate coins
Fun place! Lots of cool stuff to do there!
If you didnt get some Sasparilla at the saloon, you should've.
Great 👍 video 👍
You missed a few buildings. There are some houses down a side street by the church/school. You got the bulk of it tho. I have been there a few times. Being a history buff myself, it is interesting to walk thru old buildings and homes. As a Wichita native, Cowtown is a stand out of our attractions.
I visited those, but didn't include every building in the video. Still lots more to explore than what was showed!
Wonderful tour of Cowtown! We took our littles there in the early 80s, when we lived in Wichita! We loved that place! I took lots of home movies! Loved the Christmas celebration they put on, and all the fun events! Its been years since weve gone, and I think we need to go again, with our grandkids!! It has changed immensely since those days, but I love all the additions! Really great video! Sure brought back sweet memories for me! Going to tag my kids on this one, so they can go down memory lane too! Love Cowtown! Love Wichita!
You should definitely go back with the grandkids. There were lots of kids there having a blast 😊 Thanks for watching and tagging the kiddos!
I love Cowtown. I have been there many times since 1978. Thanks for making this video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I really enjoyed that. Thank you. Wiseguy.
Thank you for taking us with you, amazing how we lived in Wichita for 11 years & only drove by it, my wife however went there as a child.....
Awesome video. Good Job Brother.
Thank you! It took me 17 years to finally give it a thorough look!
Great video, very interesting!
Thank you very much!
Hi john great to see a place like that an its still going thanks for the tour . Cheers mate🇦🇺
Thank you! Definitely great to see so many young people there enjoying it too!
The kiddos are so cute!!!
I loved this episode!!
Thank you! They were excited to be on RUclips 😂
Hey John just curious if you grew up in Wichita? In grade school I was always excited because on field trips we would spend the whole day there and have class in the old school. Loved it so much and maybe what got me fascinated with history.
I grew up in southern Ohio and moved to Wichita in 2006!
Thanks John for the cowtown tour . I haven't been there in 20 years. Definitely looks like time for a visit.
I would recommend it!
Actually, most of the buildings were original structures that were moved to cowtown. Check out the Sedgwick county historical museum at William and Main. Also, the Aviation museum that borders McConnell AFB . Jesse Chisholm, who established the Chisholm trail, built a trading post at 9th and Waco.
wow! What a super cool place! Nice job showing us the town - that place is huge! Love that you can walk inside the buildings!
Thank you! Yeah it was cool you could go inside all of them!
So sorry you had to come to Wichita lol
My family enjoyed the "shoot outs" where the sheriff and deputies "chase" a bandit. A lot of fun for all ages.
Yes! Unfortunately they aren’t doing them now.
@@TravelwithaWiseguy That is sad. It was always interesting and exciting.
I had my wedding reception in one of the big buildings in Cowtown (on the strip) it was very nice, antique-like, western… Mmmm, my marriage only lasted 1.5 years, I think I know why now?!?!?!?!? ☠️🤠💀
😂😂😂
If you don't mind saying when were you out there? When I was a kid my favorite part was the jail. It doesn't look like it's the same now but I remember as a kid going in to the jail and seeing a dummy locked up behind the bars and imagining somebody in there. When you said "I sat on this couch" I don't know why but it kind of sounded like you were bragging 🤣🤣. That bovine was the perfect transition after the failed attempt to rope the dummy. It look scared of you one bit, almost like it was taunting you. 🤣 Thanks for the blast from the past.
I was there about 2 weeks ago on a Sunday. Haha wasn’t bragging just surprised I was allowed to sit there in such an old house. 😂😂😂
@@TravelwithaWiseguy lol, I know you weren't, just the tone sounded funny to me
❤️‼️
We also have a couple nights you can come in october and its creepy
I live here and the place is haunted we have alot of ghost hunters comer here in october
Wise guy i started school in a 1 room county school first grade in 1960. They dis assembled the grain elevator in Bentley Kansas and moved it to cow town. The elevator sit on the Frisco rail siding. It's been about 20 yrs since the tracks were taken up. I don't remember when they moved the elevator!!
Nice! Cool to have buildings from different towns in the same place!
You needed a real bull to rope it 😊
😂😂 I’m sure I would do far worse!
Thanks a lot. Enjoyable stuff. Not in Old Cowtown per se, but "up the street" (?), is the Eaton Hotel (of Carrie Nation fame) still there on Douglas Avenue close to the train station? Either way, do you know if it was named after the (also famous) Marshall Frank Eaton? Thanks again.
Thanks! Yes it’s there! The Eaton Hotel was named after Ben Eaton, who owned the hotel in the 1890’s.
@@TravelwithaWiseguy Thank you. God bless.
Very interesting, times were bad then, and it looks like we're I going back there. Building on build back better.😆😆🤡🌎
😂😂
We have gun fights here to
They quit the gun fights when someone was injured a while back.
You missed a whole street. The residential area of the town.
Thanks! And I didn’t really miss it - I just didn’t include all the buildings in the video. I believe you can see it from the drone view.