At Living History Farms near Des Moines, IA we stepped back into the early days of Iowa. From the visitor’s Center we rode a tractor pulled wagon back in time to the 1700s farm which was represented by Kiowa Indian garden and housing. I thought it was interesting that these Native Americans constructed their homes so that they stayed warmer in the winter than did those of the earliest European settlers from the east.

Our time travel wasn’t yet complete because we rode the wagon back to the 1875 town of Walnut Hill that we had bypassed earlier. The Flynn home mansion on the hill is the original house on the property. It was built by a wealthy railroad man turned cattleman, turned business man. It has two stories with three kitchens and is filled with beautiful furniture. The wood is all original and it is lovely! We walked through the town enjoying seeing the smithy, drugstore, general store, doctor’s office, implement dealer, newspaper and church. At most of the buildings there’s an interpreter who told us about the building and its contents. The last house we visited as the Tangen Home; a house representative of that which would be owned by a successful family in 1875. In this case the family was Norwegian. They lived in Iowa in the late 1800s. The house is nicely, but not lavishly, furnished.

Our final stop was back at the visitors’ center gift shop where a variety of candy, toys and other gift and souvenir items are for sale. Let me mention that traveling from farm to farm does require a lot of walking and the trails are dirt with some steep areas. If you ask, the staff can suggest ways to limit walking if you want. We think our time traveling visit was well worth the effort and the price of admission.