Littleton Museum – Littleton, CO
History – Art – Culture
Free
The Littleton Museum is a great educational outing for the family. This year the museum is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Children will enjoy the indoor exhibits and outdoor period farms. Parents will appreciate the educational aspect and free admission. I took the kiddos for a visit to check it out.
The indoor exhibits include the History of Littleton and a display of local photography art. The History of Littleton chronicles the progression of the town of Littleton since 1859. Learn about local history through artifacts and text. My kids liked this exhibit but we found some of the artifacts weren’t labels and wondered what they were. The kiddos weren’t too interested in the exhibit of photography art and we moved through it very quickly.
Once we completed the indoor exhibits, we moved outside to check out the 1860s farm. The farm represents a pioneer homestead during Littleton’s settlement period. The farmhouse was moved to the museum from its original location.
When we went into the farmhouse, they were all amazed that it was just one room. A cute set of steps lead up to a single bedroom.
The kids found it interested that everyone slept in one room upstairs. We checked out the manual sewing machine and spinner.
Moving back outside, my kiddos noticed right away that the fences to pen in the animals were made of wood and not wire. We checked out the pens, the barn, and the root cellar. Since we visited in March, they did not have any crops growing in the fields.
We walked around the empty field to get to the schoolhouse. At this point, I must stop to point out that if you visit remember to wear your old shoes, this is a farm and most surfaces were dirt and mud. I had to listen to The Boy complain about getting mud on his new shoes.
The 1860s schoolhouse is a cool log building. My kids couldn’t get over how small it was and wondered how they fit 30 children in it. They didn’t realize that most schools didn’t have 30 students in total.
We moved across the property to the 1890 farm. We checked out the farmhouse which was moved from its original location less than a mile away. Right away we were amazed at the progress that was made in 30 years from the 1860s farmhouse.
The 1890 farmhouse had separate rooms, bedrooms, a kitchen, and a pantry. There were wood-burning stoves in several rooms and a big wood-burning stove in the kitchen. The 1890 farmhouse felt luxurious compared to the 1860 farmhouse.
When we visited there weren’t any crowds. I would like to go back during the summer to see the fields planted. I think the kids would enjoy seeing the staff and volunteers dressed in period-appropriate costumes perform the everyday activities of an 1800s farm.
The museum offers many events. Some of the upcoming events include:
Dairy Day -Learn how pioneers preserved their milk by churning butter and cranking ice cream.
Sheep to Shaw – Come and see what happens to wool once it is sheared off the sheep. They will have sheep shearing demonstrations every half hour. Other demonstrations include washing, carding, felting, spinning, and weaving wool.
Plowing and Planting – See teamsters and horses hard at work on the 1890s farm preparing their field using old techniques and equipment.
