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The Veterans Memorial Museum in Branson, Missouri is a national tribute to the brave men and women who defended our liberties during the 20th Century.
A visit to the museum is a powerful, emotional experience. As you wander the great halls of the museum you’ll be captivated by the stories of these men and women who gave us so much. The museum is filled with the most incredible collection of wartime exhibits covering the heights and depths of human experience.
For those who lived through these wars the memories brought back are vivid and overwhelming. For those that viewed the 20th Century wars through the prism of history, the museum is awe-inspiring. You will be fascinated and thoroughly humbled by this memorial to our veterans. The vast array of exhibits causes reflection and creates an intense curiosity about the personal experiences of the men and women who lived in these uniforms, fired these weapons, lived as a POW, wrote these letters home, wore these medals, played this battlefield organ, flew the planes, rode the motorcycles, and served our country so well.
The Veterans Memorial Museum is composed of ten great halls covering the wars and conflicts fought during the 20th Century. Circulation and viewing start in the World War I Hall, progressing through World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and more. Each hall features dramatic and thought-provoking exhibits. Sculpture, murals, historical artifacts, objects d’ art, and thousands of authentic memorabilia honor all branches of the service, major battlefronts, campaigns, industrial defense, and more.
The names of the men and women killed in action in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and recent conflicts of the 20th Century are displayed on the walls of the halls.
A Special Note: In Branson every year from November 5th – 11th is Veterans Homecoming Week, with special activities celebrating Veterans ending with a parade! This week will be our 92nd year doing this, so if you can please join us and visit the Veterans Memorial Museum! http://veteransmemorialbranson.com/
General Lew Wallace’s accomplishments stretch much further than his 77 years.
A Major General in the Union Army who led his troops in the decisive Civil War battles of Donelson, Shiloh, and Monocacy; was a military judge in the trials of the Lincoln Conspirators and Commander Wirz of Andersonville Prison; ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
A brilliant author, orator, artist, inventor, and musician, General Wallace etched his place indelibly in the annals of American history. But it was his masterwork, the epic religious novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880), that gained General Wallace his highest accolades and cemented his reputation in literary history. Ben-Hur became the best-selling novel of the nineteenth century. The novel the basis of several dramatizations, including the 1959 Academy Award®-winning motion picture starring Charlton Heston.
Today, the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum has faithfully preserved General Wallace’s personal memorabilia in the Study that he designed and built in 1895–on the same site where Ben-Hur was penned. Each year, the Museum presents educational and entertaining programs for all ages that demonstrate the qualities of leadership, ingenuity, exploration and character that General Wallace embodied throughout his life.
Come for a visit year-round and experience all the legacy that is General Lew Wallace and his importance to our American History! https://www.ben-hur.com/
The Sandy Historical Society Museums location was built on the exact site of the famous Barlow Road, which was the last leg of the Oregon Trail that brought thousands of pioneers in covered wagons over the Cascade Mountains to Western Oregon from the mid 1840s until the 1870s.
The museums carefully curated exhibits conjure a history and peoples who endured hardship and travail to help bring civilization to our piece of Oregon Territory. The museum's two floors of exhibit space are devoted to the geography, the pioneers and settlers, and their role in the settling of the West.
The main exhibit hall showcases the role of geography in influencing the immigrants to stay in this area rather than push towards the Columbia River. The exhibit hall includes a diorama, video, logging equipment and an excellent collection of photographs of the logging industry, which was the heart of the Sandy economy.
From the kitchen to the parlor, the barnyard to the local shops, the displays in the top floor gallery (accessible by elevator) are meant to be a look back in time. The exhibits include a good selection of home goods that were at the core of home life - cast iron pots, kitchen implements and more. There is also the museum's Jonsrud Library with relevant history volumes and the family histories of Sandy-area families who have submitted them. The family histories also include photographs and obituaries that volunteers have contributed to the paper history.
The Museum also has meeting facilities for rent, a visitor center, and a gift shop. Where there is a large variety of items from the area: souvenirs, hats, t-shirts and logo items. You are sure to find something to take home!
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 4PM. Sunday & Monday Closed
Come visit us soon, as a visit to the Sandy Historical Society Museum is like stepping back in time!
https://www.sandyhistory.com/museum