Kalona Historical Village

About the Project

The Kalona Historical Village is a quaint outdoor museum in East-Central Iowa, featuring historical buildings such as a depot, schoolhouse, log cabin, and church. Its mission is to tell the history of the of the region which today is home to one of the largest Amish settlements west of the Mississippi.

After erecting a brand-new building on the grounds of the Village, the organization wanted to use a portion of the new building to house an exhibit that incorporated an extensive timeline of the area – from the earliest known Native Americans, to the coming of the railroad in the late 1800’s.

With the introduction of the railroad in the late 1800’s, the small rural town of Kalona became a bustling economic center. With more and more people moving to and visiting the town, local businesses opened to serve the prospering community, some of which can still be seen in the town today.

Housed within a new exhibit building, Edwards Creative conceptualized a new permanent museum exhibit for the Kalona Historical Society. In order to acknowledge the importance of the town’s origins and founding families, Edwards Creative designed a streetscape exhibit, highlighting 20 local businesses from Kalona’s history. Using archival photographs, the facades of each business were designed to accurately represent the original architecture of each location. Large windows in each first level business allows visitors to peer into the building, where staged exhibits and artifacts tell the story of early Kalona and the founding families of each business. Three larger businesses are open for visitors to step into as well, featuring a variety of hands-on interactives and experiences. As visitors walk through the streetscape, they are able to learn about the importance of the railroad to Kalona’s growth, how early commerce was done in the town, and about the families that helped Kalona develop to the community it is today.