As we mentioned in the previous post, we had an afternoon to fill so we decided to see what we could see in Kalona in the few hours before everything closed up for the day. We drove around town to see what was there for tomorrow's visit and locate the pickup point for the tour we planned to take of the Amish back country. We had planned to visit the Historical Village tomorrow as well but we had the time to do it today...one less thing for tomorrow in case we get wrapped up in another adventure.
The Grout Church was built in 1867 and served the community until 1984 when it was moved to the Historical Village.
I am not a tree expert but I think these are magnolia trees near the church.
The Wahl House was built in Joetown in 1892 to replace the
stagecoach hotel which had been destroyed by fire. Glen Wahl purchased
the house and moved it to Kalona in the 1940s. The house served as both
a home to the Wahls and as a storage facility for their vast collection
of glassware, antiques and memorabilia. The Kalona Historical Society
acquired the house after Mr. Wahl’s death.
A fine collection of old clothes washing machines was located in another of the old buildings in the Village.
I actually remember my mother using machines like this at my Grandfather Ruikka's house in Minnesota when we vacationed there. I help catch the clothes and put them in a basket as they came through the ringer rollers...now I feel old.
This room has photos and other information on graduates from Kalona's high school.
Some school memorabilia.
We then visited the Iowa Mennonite Museum and Archives which is also in the Historical Village.
My Dad had a typewriter and adding machine similar to these. I used them both for my school homework...man I'm feeling really old now.
This is the "Figgins House" log cabin built in 1842.
The old Kalona Railroad Depot building.
I used to go with my father on some of his after hours work with the railroad. He was a communications man for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. I remember when the telegraph was still in use in depots. We had one at our house since my dad was also an amateur radio operators (ham). One of the requirements for getting an amateur license was to be proficient in Morse Code. I tried to learn it but never got very good....I am old.
In my early grades in school, I used to sit at desks just like this. The hole in the photo on the desk top held a metal ink well for fountain pens. We used pencils in my day but the metal lids on the ink wells were fun to flip open and closed to create noise....yeah I got into trouble as did many other kids until they got new desks.
The main building in the Village has a nice quilt and furniture collection.
These are the Amish quilts. You can tell by the dark colors used. Many of the quilts have black as a part of the color scheme.
A good afternoon. We will be back to Kalona again in the morning.
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