SHAWNEE, Kan — Long before Shawnee was one of Johnson County's fastest growing suburbs, it was a quiet farming town. Nearly a century later, the Old Shawnee Town Museum is helping the city remember exactly where it came from.
Tucked just off Johnson Drive—near Downtown, the museum is more than just a collection of buildings— it's a living time capsule.
“We show the complexities of the past through the different changes in technology, the stresses of being a farmer and what that brings, year to year, the economic downturns and upturns and popular culture, the different waves and trends of popular culture," said Charlie Putler Director of Museum.
Visitors can step into a 1920's barbershop, grocery store, and walk through a farmstead home that tell the story of everyday life in 1929 Shawnee.
“That's why this place was created to show those life ways in that culture that was now becoming extinct, or so they thought. So we're able to show in living color what the 1920s the 1930s were like,” said Putler.
Throughout the year, Hannah Howard curator of the museum said it's an experience for children and adults.
“I'm able to point to them and say, this is like you, who's an eight year old, or like, who has a younger brother, and they can see themselves in the space in a way that you might not if I didn't have photos like this," said Howard. "So it really helps to kind of personalize the story."
This year, the museum is once again a central part of Old Shawnee Days. Putler said he hopes families visiting the museum can see how life was before what they now see.
The clothing might have changed, the devices that we use, might have changed, the technology, but people were people. They still loved their community, they helped each other, and they just wanted to have a good standard of living for their family. And that rings true through history," said Putler.
As the city continues to expand with new housing and developments, museum staff said it's important to protect Shawnee's original identity.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, check out their website for future events.
KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.
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