The First Special Event
In the summer of 1970, Iowa’s Governor, Robert D. Ray, the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and close to 5,000 friends made their first trip to Living History Farms to see oats threshed by hand using a flail and by machine with a steam-powered separator. Today, Living History Farms is a nationally recognized historical museum with more than 22 sites on 550 acres, including three working farms.

Building The Sites
The first historic site at the Farms was an 1850 pioneer farm, built in 1971 on 30 acres of open ground near timber and a creek. The log cabin and barn were built by hand using nearby trees and the axes and tools available to Iowa farmers at the time. In 1975, a turn-of-the-century farm was built to show how farmers lived and worked the land in the year 1900. To keep the historical authenticity as pure as possible, the two main buildings at the 1900 Farm were moved onto the site. The farmhouse was built in 1893, while the barn, built in 1889, was taken apart piece by piece and reassembled where it now stands. In 1982, The Farms added the gardens, bark lodges, and work areas of a Native American village from the year 1700. In 1976, work began on a town site to show the interdependence between farmers and townspeople in the year 1875. Restoration began on the Flynn Home in 1972. The home and large Flynn Barn are original to the site and on the National Register of Historic Places. The Flynn Barn was completely restored in 1997, and the final phase of the Flynn House restoration was completed in 1998.

In 1976 the one-room schoolhouse opened, built from portions of an actual one-room schoolhouse in Confidence, Iowa. The Heck Veterinary Clinic was dedicated in 1977, and, in 1978, the Greteman’s General Store (built in 1887) was moved from Willey, Iowa. In 1979, the newly constructed blacksmith and cabinetmaker shops were dedicated. The Armstrong Doctor Office (built in 1870) was moved from Polk City, Iowa, in 1980 and the Taylor Law Office (built in 1879) was relocated from Guthrie Center, Iowa, in 1983.

In 1984, the Interfaith Church of the Land was dedicated on the site where Pope John Paul II had offered communion five years earlier, the bank opened in 1987, the Advocate Newspaper Office in 1988 and the Mrs. Elliot's Millinery Shop in 1992. In 1993, the bandstand was constructed and the dressmaker’s shop opened in 1994.

In the spring of 1995 the Schafer Drug Store opened and the Implement Warehouse was dedicated five months later. The Tangen Family Home opened in 1996.

To complete the story of 300 years of Midwestern agriculture, a theater was built in 1979. To make the visit more comfortable, a 8,000 square foot visitor center was opened in 1997 with modern facilities and paved parking for 500 vehicles. The attached state of Iowa Welcome Center opened in 1998.