Old Cowtown Museum

Present your room key and receive:

Complimentary Admission – includes all Signature Events.
10% Savings in the Gift Shop.
Complimentary Sarsaparilla in the Saloon (one per card holder).

Our Story
“You can’t live in the past, but it’s a great place to visit!” Be wowed when you step onto Cowtown’s dirt roads and realize you’ve entered a world just off the Chisholm Trail that is frozen in an 1865-1880 loop. Cowtown’s unique programming tells the story of Wichita’s transformation from a frontier settlement to a cattle town to an agricultural and manufacturing center. Wichita’s storied past is vividly brought to life through daily activities, special events and educational programming.
Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita, Kansas is one of the oldest living history museums west of the Mississippi. Opened in 1952, its presents a typical Kansas cattle town from 1865 to 1880. We have the distinction of being accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
What We Offer
Cowtown consists of over 60 buildings on 23 acres grouped into a Commercial District, Residential Neighborhood, Industrial Road and a period farmstead. From humble log cabins to a grand Victorian, commercial buildings to a livery stable, Cowtown represents the era like few others can. More than 40 of the buildings are fully furnished and open for the public to tour.
To add to the Cowtown Experience, educator/entrepeneurs staff several of the buildings where they demonstrate and explain such trades as blacksmithing, carpentry, printing, dress making, etc. The saloon is also open for business and serves as the stop for stagecoach and covered wagon rides.
So take a step back in time and experience life on the prairie in the late 1800s. While you might not want to live in the past, Cowtown proves that it is a great place to visit.