Museums & Historic Sites

Through Education, Outreach, and Exhibition, our mission is to provide access to the arts and avenues for artistic expression in the Atchison community and throughout the region.    

The Atchison Santa Fe Freight Depot, built in 1880, is a masonry building constructed with quarry-faced ashlar stone of contrasting corner quoins and fenestration surrounds. The building has two main sections - a two-story office on the west end and a one-story freight section on the east. The building was...

In the legacy of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart, the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum will educate, inspire and empower all generations in the pursuit of flight. In the summer of 2016, the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation acquired Muriel, the last remaining 1935 Lockheed Electra 10-E aircraft in the world – the...

On July 4, 1804, Lewis and Clark, exploring the new Louisiana Purchase, camped near this site. Fifty years later the town was founded by Pro-slavery men and named for Sen. D. R. Atchison. The Squatter Sovereign, Atchison's first newspaper, was an early advocate of violence against abolition. It was here...

This historic site, located about five miles north of the City of Atchison, is where the Lewis & Clark expedition camped on July 4, 1804. A pedestrian bridge over Independence Creek serves as a link on a 5-mile hiking/biking trail from the Atchison Riverfront. Other features include: an interpretive sign,...

Atchison is home to a vast collection of stately, turn-of-the-century Victorian mansions, and the three-story brick Queen Anne on Fourth Street is one of the most impressive. Built in 1885 by lumber merchant George Howell, the 14-room beauty boasts a slate roof, eyebrow windows, and an inviting wraparound porch. For...

Built in 1882, this 25-room mansion is a glorious example of the opulence of the Victorian era. It is distinguished by a three-story castle-like tower.

Adjacent to the Santa Fe Depot, the Atchison Rail Museum features an outdoor collection of rail cars and is available for exterior viewing throughout the year. Northeast Kansas Railroad members operate the Atchison & Western Miniature Railroad, a 12” gauge railroad, weekends during the summer, Sat. 10-5, Sun. 12-4.

The Atchison County Historical Society & Museum is located in the historic 1880 Santa Fe Freight Depot in Atchison, Kansas. Dedicated to telling the story of Atchison County - the gateway to the West - the museum features exhibits on Lewis and Clark, Amelia Earhart, Jesse Stone, the Railroad History of...

Amelia was born in the home on July 24, 1897 to Edwin Stanton Earhart and Amy Otis Earhart. Amelia's father was a lawyer whose position as a railroad claims agent required him to travel a great deal. Consequently both Amelia and her sister Muriel spent an abundance of their childhood...