kalona historical village

Bountiful-IA

The Historical Village isn't open during the winter months but the museum is. The museum is still worth the trip. We spent about an hour. There are two rooms that have rotating exhibits so you can go multiple times and still see new items. They have at least a 12' pine tree that they decorate per the season. It was absolutely beautiful decorated for Christmas. Nice museum and a very friendly staff.

LostNYer

On one of our trip down to Kalona to eat we stopped at the Historical village, the place is quite interesting to see how they lived back then. The village consists of multiple builds covering black smith, school house, store, and typical home. When happen to stop by there they were having the local Fall Festival so there was all kinds of event going on, if your into Antiques this is a great time to go (During September).

Vancemabear

We went to the Amana Colonies in , July A planed trip . But also found that Kalona Ia about 40 miles south east, set in the middle of an Amish community , Was A great day trip . Starting at the Chamber Of Commerce .They have A bus Tour of the surrounding area of Amish farms and some stops along the way .There is also A walking tour of Quilt Blocks { 42 } starting at the Chamber Of Commerce .These are paving stones cut and painted and inserted in the side walks with all different themasThe are all located within 4-5 block Of the Chamber .There is the Historical village comprised of reclaimed buildings . With guide tours [ costs ]And A Mennonite Museum located on the property . There is A Cheese Factory , Bulk food store . And Bakeries ,to enjoy With lots of other interesting things to due .It will be an all day adventure in Amish country .

tbfairfield

The Amish of Kalona have a simple yet I find it very interesting how everything is done by hand in the land where time has stood still from the horse drams carts,with horses. I find this village to have a charm

hoogo

We visited Kalona Historical Village for their fall festival. The Village is a typical open air museum with a log cabin, train depot and one room schoolhouse. They gather quite a crowd for Fall Festival. On Friday there were a number of local school groups competing in a talent show. There must have been other out-of-towners, but many of the adults knew each other. The festival featured food tents run by local organizations offering Mexican food, pork chops on a stick, cotton candy, corn dogs, and the like. Vendors offered their wares in a flea market craft tent. I enjoyed the operating old single cylinder engines. The permanent museum highlights the local history. Impressive cabinetmaking showed in a collection of old thread spool display cases. Others appreciated the quilts on display. Parking is plentiful, modern toilets are available.

ManicUSAVisitor

The Historical Village has the usual collection of buildings found in most historical villages and the docent provides an interesting narrative as you are guided through them, however, the highlight for me was the Amish Museum housed within the Village Grounds, which give an insight into Amish & Mennonite histories, which I have always found fascinating.The docent in the museum was very helpful in answering my many questions about the Amish and I spent more time here than in the village.Well worth a visit and Kalona is a charming town in its own right.

Chris6768

A nice variety of buildings and displays to visit. The tour was very informative and we had a great tour guide. She had very nice stories about the places, people and collections of many items. I couldn't believe all the things they had to see.

TrippingAmerican

Do not expect and old Amish Community type of town.Kalona is a wonderfully normal Midwest Iowa town with a littleAmish flavor on the side. It is clean, quaint, with a couple of nice restaurants.Go to String Town Grocery Store a few miles out of town for a fun experience.It is a sort of a "Gotta Go" kinda place if you are passing by.IHG,Rube

McBible

These folks mean well and this smallish park has some redeeming qualities. It is interesting to learn of the more than 450 utopian societies/churches that populated 17-18 century America

Carolyn53821

Options for visiting were given as we arrived & we chose to have a guide take us through the village. What a great collection of old Kalona history! The buildings are well taken care of & the grounds are very neat. Two collections of quilts are on display. We spent nearly 2 hours in the village as well as the museum. Everyone was very friendly and the visit was well worth our time.

KimJ412

Took a trip to this awesome small town and visited this musuem. So much geat information on the hisotry of the Amish as well as the dutch who settled in this part of the U.S. Don't miss it if you are in this area.

ritam773

My senior group spent a lovely day in Kalona on April 25, 2013. It is a very quaint town in the heart of Amish and Mennonite country. We had a wonderful set-on-guide (Dan) for the entire day. We visited the Historical Village which the group throughly enjoyed. It is a wonderful representation of this area's history. We also made several stops for demonstrations by the local businesses - noodle making, chocolate making, cheese and woodworking. The meals were a catered lunch at the Historical Village and dinner at a Mennonite home. Both meals wet delicious.The dinner was memorable. Kalona is known as the Quilt Capital of Iowa. The downtown streetshave quilt blocks on each street corner. A wonderful experience for city dwellers to see a unique part of our country. Nancy Roth at the Village will make all the group arrangements.

LTCSPG

They have taken the old buildings (mostly farm) and placed them in one area. Iowa is a farming state and if you are interested in farming history... this is a must see.

AlyciaF

Kalona Historical Village is so pretty and so amazing. They still use horse drawn carriages and I was blown away. I loved visiting this village and I can't wait to go back! :)

mimifg

Kalona is fairly nifty, but if you blink you'll miss it. They used to provide massive amounts of cheese to various big food companies. I think they only supply one type now. At any rate, the squeaky cheese is a delight!