What's in and Around St. Joseph, Missouri

While the U.S. Midwest is generously littered with little forgettable little ex-trading post towns, St. Joseph, Missouri (Est. 1826), the understated college town that serves as the seat of Buchana County roughly 30 minutes drive northwest of Kansas City, is blessed with enough locally made treasures to keep its head held hide even after the demise of the Pony Express (launched here in 1860) and the area's most notorious resident, Jesse James (a little less notorious but no less beloved local is the recently departed newsman Walter Cronkite). Click here to see a good introduction video clip of the city by Youtube Bac511.

This rustic town on the Missouri River was named after the explorer-fur trader Joseph Robidoux rather than any biblical figure, though that doesn't stop it from being a proper little conservative Catholic place with a little college-town-style liberal twist (thanks in part to the presence of Missouri Western State College with its enviable science programs)... a Catholic state that consistently vote to keep river boat casino gambling legal sure has more up its' sleeves than meet the eye.

St. Jo, as the locals call it, was the last stop on the famous Oregon Trail before the pioneers had to face the untamed wild west east of the Rockies Mountains. Nowadays St. Jo claims a year round population of 72,000 with 13 museums, outdoor recreational parks, classical theaters, a community symphony, and over 50 listed National historic places. All while preserving the friendly and unpretentiously laid back small town atmosphere that travelers to the US Midwest find appealing compared to the more hectic pace of the big coastal cities. The town center has good tourist accommodations and there is even a good KOA campground on the other side of the freeway for the more eco-adoring among us.

Anyhow, if you ever find yourself rolling into to town with some sight-seeing time to spare, here are a few local attractions you might want to bag to your 'been there done that' list:

1. The Pony Express Museum:
Location: 914 Penn St. Tel. (816) 279-5059, (800) 530-5930 Hours: Mon-Sat 9AM-5PM, Sun 1-5PM
Visit the birthplace of the famed Pony Express, the 2000 miles long horseback mail route from the Pikes Peak Stables in St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, California. If you think driving cross-country in the 21st century is tough, imagine how it was to do so on a horse in 1860. There are many tales worth telling from trips like that, and nobody tells them more convincingly than the barely tamed wild folks at the Pony Express Museum in St. Jo do.

2. Robidoux Row Museum:
Location: 3rd & Poulin Sts, St. Joseph Tel. (816) 232-5861. Hours: Tue-Fri 10AM-4PM, Sat-Sun 1-4PM. Admission: $5
This is a series of restored historic houses that were built by Joseph Robidoux in the 1840's. On display are authentic artifacts from that California Gold Rush period. The East Building houses the restoration of Robidoux's personal quarters and a wintering room that is practically frozen in the pioneers' time. The West Building, serves as headquarters for the Saint Joseph Historical Society, housing its Gift Shop, Society History, Library and service areas. If you are one of those who love the unique looking houses from the Victorian era, a stroll around the Robidoux Row complex is a good prescription for a few hours of rustic time-traveling for you.

3. St. Joseph Museum:
Location: 3406 Frederick Ave. Hours: Mon-Sat 10AM - 5PM, Sun 1 - 5PM Admission: $5
Established in 1927 as the Children's Museum of St. Joseph, this natural and cultural history (with heavy emphasis on collections of Native American artifacts) oriented institution is the oldest of the 4 St. Joseph Museums System.

4. Glore Psychiatric Museum:
Location: 3406 Frederick Ave. Hours: Mon-Sat 10AM - 5PM, Sun 1-5PM. Admission: $5
Formerly the State Lunatic Asylum #2, this stately red brick building held many secrets of various degrees of insanity between its walls. Named for George Glore, the loony-obsessive who spent much of his 41 years at the Missouri Department of Mental Health chronicling the advances in mental health care in the United States. Walking through the floors of this stuffy building poring through the various well preserved restraining and surgical devices that make you go, 'Gosh, that Frankenstein monster sure had it easy compared to the poor deranged souls who passed this way not so long ago!' is a very sobering experience. Sure, you've heard about lobotomy and other questionable methods (at least when looked upon in hindsight) that mental illnesses were treated by in the last century or so, but how many of you have really seen the bed where such a procedure was performed and the scalpels and boring devices? Thank goodness that medicine does learn from its past missteps and today's mentally ill folks can now count on much gentler and effective treatments for their condition.

5. St. Joseph Black Archives Museum:
Location: 3406 Frederick Ave. Hours: Mon-Sat 10AM - 5PM, Sun 1 - 5 PM. Admission: $5
Formerly known as the Knea-Von Black Archives, the BAM was founded in 1991 by Jewel Robinson, a local high school teacher. Robinson organized a young adult clubs celebrating the area's Black culture and heritage with exhibits on the Underground Railroad, the Middle Passage, Desegregation, Education, Sports, etc. There is also a Hall of Fame commemorating prominent local African-American citizens such as Coleman Randolph Hawkins, the 'Father of the Tenor Sax.'

6. Wyeth - Tootle Mansion:
Location: 11th and Charles Streets. Tel. (816). Hours: Fri-Sat 10AM - 4PM, Sun 1-4PM. Admission: $5
This Gothic style 43 room 1879 structure was commissioned by William Wyeth of the prosperous Wyeth Hardware and Manufacturing Company and Saddle Factory as his extravagantly spiffy residence. Its north side turret is the place to catch some really awesome view of the surroundings. The mansion was sold in 1887 to Kate Tootle, who promptly redid the interior of walnut panels, parquet floors, and grand carved staircase presided over by stained glass windows. It is a residence fit for kings... which ought to make one walk straighter as one visits this now beautifully restored museum showcasing exhibits of the city's history from the time the mansion was built to the death of Jesse James. I'm afraid it isn't very handicap friendly (you can only modify a historic building to a certain degree).

7. Twin Spires Cathedral:
Location: 501 S. 10th Tel. (816) 233-9788. Hours: Wed, Fri 1-4PM public tour available by appointment.
Formerly the Church of the Immaculate Conception, established in 1860 as a German national parish, this local landmark twin brick spires cathedral boosts 37 beautiful stained glass windows by the Frei Studio of St. Louis. The Polish parish took over the place in the 1960's, though, and refitted it with hand-carved Italian Stations of the Cross and a Gothic high altar. Nowadays it privately run as a wedding chapel that also offers guided tour of the facility.

8. Remington Nature Center:
Location: 1502 MacArthur Drive, Tel. (816)271-5499. Hours: Mon-Sat 10AM - 5PM, Sun 1-5PM.
Admission: $3
Where else in the wild west can you hang out with the only authentic mammoth bones excavated in Missouri, a whole slew of Buchanan County's native fish in a 7,000 gallon tank, look pensively into the eyes of a 600 lbs black bear and live to tell the bison next door and its stalking wolf about it before stopping by to visit a working beehive and even a beaver dam while drinking in the view of the wild Missouri River (as spectacular as it gets during the early fall when the leaves turn gold and ruby). All that and more is what is waiting for you at the Remington Nature Center, a one of a kind meeting place between civilization and the untamed nature. Be sure to allow at least a few hours to spend there, though. Every refreshing minute you spend there will surely be worth remembering about long after the trip.

9. Jesse James House:
Location: 12th St @ Mitchell. Hours: Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 1-5PM. Admission: $3
Previously located at 1318 Lafayette St and later moved behind the Platee House at the corner of 12th St and Mitchell Ave in 1977, this was the abode of the (in)famous outlaw Jesse James, the living room of which is where he had his final meeting with a bullet from the gun of Robert Ford in 1882. The house is so well preserved with authentic artifacts of James and his gang (the Ford brothers included) that the hole in the wall made by the fatal bullet (apparently he was shot from behind with the exit wound coming out of his left eye) is still there!

Some Upcoming Events in St. Joseph, MO:
- 21-23 Aug 2009 (Fri 5PM - 12AM, Sat 10AM - 12AM, Sun 12PM - 12AM) : Trails West Festival in Downtown St. Joseph. This is Northwest Missouri's largest festival of fine arts, folk arts, dramatic stage and music performances.
- 12 September 2009: Professional Cycling Tour of Missouri stage 6 from Chillicothe - St. Joseph.
- 18 - 20 Sep 2009: South Side Fall Festival at Hyde Park and Alabama St. This is a free event featuring food boths, crafts, entertainment, a grand parade and a professional rodeo at the Civic Arena.
- 3 Oct 2009 (2-6PM): Rockin on the River at Remington Nature Center 1502 MacArthur Dr
Phone: 816-232-4461
- 9-11 Oct 2009: Pony Express Pumpkinfest at 914 Penn St. Free family event featuring entertainment, carnival, crafts, food, costume parade, petting zoo, and Great Pumpkin Mountain.
Phone: 816-279-5059
- 3 Dec 2009: Holiday Lighting Ceremony at Wyeth-Tootle Mansion: 1100 Charles St, St Joseph, MO, 64501 Phone: 816-232-8471