Burlington's Old Town Museum is a walkable village of restored plains buildings

If you want to picture how people actually lived on this stretch of the Eastern Plains a century ago, Burlington keeps a place built for exactly that. The Old Town Museum is not a single building but a small village of restored ones, gathered together on one historic site near the edge of town.

The site runs about six and a half acres and holds roughly twenty-one restored buildings filled with everyday turn-of-the-century artifacts. Walking it gives you a sense of how a plains community was put together, from the practical buildings of a working main street to the simpler shelters families built to get a start out here.

In the warmer months the museum adds living-history touches, with seasonal performances that bring the old main street to life. The rest of the year it stays open for tours, so it is something you can visit even on an off-season pass through town.

This pairs naturally with Burlington’s other landmark, the historic county carousel, if you are spending a day in town off I-70. Both are reasons the county has held onto its past instead of letting it fade.

Because hours, admission, and the schedule of live shows change with the season, check the current details on the City of Burlington’s official Old Town Museum page before you go.