Take the time to learn about your county history

(Sentinel photo by Kelsie Anthony) In our adventures at the Plymouth County Historical Museum, Luke had a run-in with a Loess Hills bison. [Click to enlarge]

This is the third story in a series of places to have summer fun in Plymouth County.

When we think of Le Mars and Plymouth County, we usually don't think of its history.

But don't you ever wonder: What did Le Mars look like in 1882? Who first lived in Plymouth County? Are there any famous people that have come from where I live?

If you are looking for answers to these questions, the Plymouth County Historical Museum is the place to be.

With five floors of artifacts and memorabilia from all around the area, Plymouth County Historical Museum had the answers to some of our questions, and it may just answer yours, too.

We started our tour by entering the main level of the museum. Here we looked in the Music Room, which housed rare musical instruments from past decades.

Instruments such as the Horizontal Harp can be found in the Music Room. This instrument takes three people to play it.

Also in the Music Room is memorabilia from the First American Dairy Princess, Ruth Marie Peterson.

Dresses, sashes and jewelry of Peterson's also filled a case in the music room. Treasures from Peterson's trips around the world can also be viewed like a signed photo by President Richard Nixon and a photo of Peterson in Mexico.

Another interesting spot in the Plymouth County Historical Museum is the room that holds the Northwest Iowa Genealogy Society. Here we looked up past relatives and could look up other ancestors if we wished.

The old Miller's Lunch is also on display at the museum. Booths, menus and more, collected from what was once the diner, rest on the third floor of the museum.

In this exhibit, we also enjoyed a root beer float last week during Ice Cream Days, which is also offered as a fun treat during the Fourth of July.

A Loess Hills Wildlife and Native American exhibit can also be viewed at the museum. We enjoyed looking at the different animals from the area, which ranged from butterflies to bison.

Our tour also included the Military Room where we looked at artifacts from each war. We perused through metals, uniforms and pictures from Plymouth County soldiers, who have served our country for decades.

The museum also houses small exhibits for people of many interests like Kitchens Through the Decades, Country School Room, and an agriculture display.

The Plymouth County Historical Museum offers history that sparks the interest of any person, whether you are looking for old dresses or old farm machinery.

We thought we could give you a list of our Top Ten favorite things about the museum, you may be interested in some of them too.

Kelsie's Top Ten:

1. Country School Room

2. First American Dairy Princess dresses, pictures, and memorabilia

3. "Ghost picture"- A picture of downtown Le Mars in the late 1800s. The cameras from back then could not capture motion, therefore there are five "ghost" figures in the picture to find.

4. Kitchens Through the Decades

5. Vander Meer Bakery display

6. Unique Bibles from Plymouth County churches, housed in the Religious Heritage Room.

7. Medical Room

8. Build your own log cabin (by the Kid's Cabin)

9. My friend the stuffed American Alligator

10. The Airplane Room

Luke's Top Ten:

1. German war treasures from World War II

2. A Bible printed in the year 1711

3. The Ireton Clipper issue telling of President McKinley's death in 1901

4. Ruth Marie Peterson's letter/picture signed by President Eisenhower and Nixon

5. John Niggeling articles

6. The American alligator

7. The Westmar eagle costume

8. The geneology room

9. The pinball machine in Miller's Lunch

10. An old school model of the solar system

Kelsie's Thoughts: I very much enjoyed our visit to the Plymouth County Historical Museum. As a child, my dad and I would visit the museum, I loved it because there was always something new to find. Going back now, there were many new things that I discovered, because over the years that I have not visited, a lot of artifacts and rooms have been added.

Your history is an important part of you, and therefore something you should know. I think a trip to the museum is a good way to discover where you come from. You may just be surprised at what you find out about Plymouth County. The trip the trip to the Plymouth County Museum was very interesting, offering so much to see and learn.

Luke's Thoughts: I love museums. Most people get annoyed with me because I want to read every exhibit, but that's the fun of the museum -- you get to learn! I've been in the museum a few times over the past two summers while working at the Daily Sentinel, and each time I find something different that captures my attention. For instance, the first newspaper printed in Le Mars was in German. So much can be learned about our area from visiting the historical museum. It's definitely worth the afternoon, so go through slow.