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December 2023 by Brittney Maurer
We went to the Santa lights and it was beautiful and fun for the whole family
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November 2023 by Alex Nelson
This review is in regards to the Halloween event. First off, for having sponsors for this event, it seemed as if $20 was thrown into the whole thing. Tickets should have been no more than $5 for what it was. They definitely need more activities for kids that are fun and entertaining. The ones they had were boring. There could have been MUCH more Halloween decorations and fun things to see/do. There weren't hardly any candy stations. The story tellers explained how they heard the stories for a long time and then forgot the stories. The fortune teller was simply spinning the wheel to see your fortune. It would have been cool to add a fire to sit by since it was cold. Horse drawn carriage ride was fun for my son but very short and the guy did not say anything to us at all. We had very high hopes for this event and it was so disappointing.
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October 2023 by Tim Tr.
Well informed and very educative. Farm is huge and well laid out. Tractor ride and pick up is nice and time efficient. Houses and artifacts are well represented. Interpreters are knowledgeable and welcoming.A bit pricey or worth what you paid for.Be prepared for a lot of walking.Welcome to bring your own food and have a picnic.Kids friendly. Seen a lot of school kids taking tours in groups.Highly recommended!
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August 2023 by Kris Durbin
This was a very interesting experience. We were expecting strong homage to the history of farming and modern farming, but we didn’t feel a lot of that. The first half of the tour was overtly racist against “whites” for the colonization of territorial lands. Regardless of your opinion or background (I come from Cherokee lineage), the language was overwhelmingly strong and borderline racist. It was largely a political statement simply by the way it was presented. The very end of the first half of the tour was a small functioning farm with a few animals. The second half of the tour had nothing to do with farming — it was a historic 1890s city that seemed out of place, but was nevertheless the most interesting part of the museum.
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August 2023 by Rebecca Barrett
I went here a lot as a kid and this is my first time back in about 8 years. It's still a fun place to visit but it's not as good as it was in the past. Some things have improved. I do appreciate at the beginning how they discuss the forcible relocation of the Ioway. That was not mentioned before. They have also added more benches along the trail and drinking fountains.However, I noticed less effort and a lack of care in making the living history farm living. The 1850 farm no longer had crops growing or a garden. The 1900 town did not have as many employees in the shops. Some of the employees were not in costume. I love seeing the employees really living and working there. It creates the feeling that you are traveling back in time and not just visiting a museum.The gift shop is also almost totally gone. You used to be able to buy a lot of things including reproductions of antique writing implements. Now most of what was once the gift shop is now a seminar room.
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August 2023 by Rebecca Starmer
I have always loved Living History Farms. I have been going there since it opened. They have special and seasonal events, summer day camps, spaces to rent for parties and weddings, and dinners/teas at some of the houses. It's also just a great place to learn about history in Iowa. I am a little sad that they, like so many places, have a hard time getting enough employees volunteers, so some of the buildings no longer are staffed with historical interpreters. If you have never been, I'd encourage you to take a day and step back in time at Living History Farms.
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June 2023 by Shawn Moffitt
This was definitely a nice place to visit. There's a lot to see and learn. Make sure you plan on bringing some good walking shoes, since there's a lot of walking. We spent a couple hours walking and looking around the farm.The employees were friendly and helpful when answering questions. I felt like the gift shop in the welcome center was a little skimpy though.
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May 2023 by Lawrence Day
Living History Farms was a nice place to visit on our way out West. The ride in the wagon to the farm is a bit rough and dusty, but once we we’re up there it was nice to see how farming had evolved over the millennia. We did visit some of the town, but ran out of time. As an added bonus, we stayed the night in their parking lot in our motorhome as they are part of Harvest Hosts. Overall, nice place to stop.
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August 2022 by Robin Krautbauer
Really not that much there for the price. Long ride in a horse trailer than head been converted into a people mover. Really rough ride. Was super hot today so that didn't help. Been around to a lot of historical sites and for the price... This one just didn't
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August 2022 by kelly heflin
Our whole family went; 10 adults and 6 children. It was a long walk to look at a bunch of old, unkept buildings. No one demonstrating anything, or even telling stories. It was 2:00, so maybe its better to go in the morning. The only good thing was the few animals that the children could pet at the end. I definitely would’ve asked for our money back, but they were closed when we left.
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July 2022 by Jason Cox
It's was pretty neat. My boys are 5 and 8 and they really enjoyed seeing the old shops and homes. It was a lot of walking, but not terrible. The workers are very knowledgeable! The black smith likes to play "Stump The Blacksmith". If you can bring him a history question he can't answer, you win! We couldn't beat him.
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June 2022 by Kari C.
Such a fun outing! We bought the plus membership to Living History, Blank Park and Sci Center so we can go whenever we feel like it. Good for kids and adults, great experience. The farm let's you travel back in time. Kids liked the farm equipment, animals and the wool spinning. The walk by the creek is quiet and relaxing.
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June 2022 by Nick Lees
What a blast! Our whole family enjoyed it so much that we upgraded to an annual pass. Looking forward to going back.
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June 2022 by Brenden Allen
The farm is fun and educational for kids and cool to go to if you've never been, when I went half the stores were closed or roped off so you could not go in and explore. It wasn't so much living history as it was just a normal freeze frame of history and like a normal museum, there were no activities to do to get in to the feel of how things were and at almost 20$ a person to get in I'd have to say in that current state it is not worth it. Lots of stuff is in disrepair like roofs above bathrooms and other "none history buildings" and the Future of farming buildings and an exhibit which are really cool buildings on the outside are shut down and going to waste. It was a real shame that the area as a whole is in the state that it is in. If you can get discount tickets I'd say it's worth going but if you have a large group like I did with my family the 100$ that it was to get everyone in was in my opinion a waste with the lack of stuff that you could do and how much there was to actually see in the town and the farm areas. The print shop was staffed and really cool to learn about the printing press and how they do all that.
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March 2022 by Marla Hawkins
As members of Harvest Hosts, we were able to spend the night in our RV in their parking lot. This was super nice. Very clean and well kept. The museum wasn't open when we were there, but the outdoor part was. It's a great place to take a walk or hike. Beautiful and quiet with some wildlife.