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Monday, July 4, 2011

Missouri Town 1855

I was lucky enough to work at Missouri Town 1855 summers while I was in college in 1976-78.  I went back to visit while I was home last week.
I met the blacksmith.  He is one of two full-time employees of Missouri Town.
The anvil and grindstone are important tools for him to use.
The fire was not going in the blacksmith's.  Good thing; it was nearly 100 degrees outside, and look at his clothing!  Can you imagine wearing wool pants all summer? 
When I worked there I was responsible for currying the oxen and keeping their pasture free of thistle.
I was terrified of them at first, since the ones we had back then did double duty as rodeo rides.
Here is the herb garden.  I remember we had lemon balm and made tea in the fireplace at the inn.
Here is one of the cabins.
I leaned in and got some photos of the inside.  Guests of the park are not allowed to traipse through the buildings.  See the keyboard instrument at the left of the previous picture?  I don't remember if it is a clavichord or a harpsichord, but I used to play it while I was at work.  Okay, maybe "play" is too strong a word for me tinkling the keys with "Alley Cat" and "Do-Re-Mi."
This is the Inn.
And the kitchen next to the dining room in the Inn where I learned to spin wool into yarn.
Another bedroom.
And the woodsman's cottage. The must have made a lot of those little coffins back then. The woodsman's workshop was on one side and his family's living quarter on the other.  Can you imagine living (along with your family) and working in a two room dwelling?
I found the little lambs at the far side of the Town's property.
The bedroom below is one I hated to clean because it always had the most spiders.  The loft area was especially creepy with crawly things.
Here is the other side of the same room.
Pretty cool place to work.
Hay?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Karmen thanks for the tour. I don't even remember the big white house. I must go visit it some time.

WoolenSails said...

That would be a fun job to do, maybe not the spiders though, lol.
I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Debbie

Me and My Stitches said...

What a neat place - thanks for the tour. I'm not sure I would want to work there, especially clearing thistle, but it would be a fun place to visit!

Lee Prairie Designs said...

Love the pictures. Thanks for the lovely tour.

My mother grew up in Sedalia, Mo. We spent every summer there with our grandmother and great grandmother sewing clothes and quilting is this town close to Sedalia? Would love to visit there!

Love your blog, Carolyn :)

Window On The Prairie said...

I love places like that. I always enjoy visiting them and especially like how simple and spartan the furnishings are in the homes. I always come back to my own home afterwards and feel bad about my clutter.
Suzanne