1515 South Harwood St.
Dallas, TX 75215-1273
dallasheritagevillage.org

Recently discovered that the first Sunday of every month there is free admission to Dallas Heritage Village, and so I checked out their web site to see what was up and so happen that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum’s “The ‘Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America’ exhibit was visiting the museum. Love free, love Abraham Lincoln, it was the first Sunday of the month…stars aligned! So off I went to the Dallas Heritage Village.

People who have been around Dallas for a while will be more familiar with this place being simply called Old City Park. It is now known as Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park. Chances are you’ve already been to this place if you’ve grown up in Dallas, because it is a popular school field trip destination. If you’ve been as a kid go experience it again as an adult, I think you’ll enjoy the experience better without being herded around with a million other kids.

It’s not your typical trip to the museum. The Dallas Heritage Village consider themselves to be the premier living history museum in the Southwest. It sits on the grounds of the city’s first municipal park founded in 1876. The museum is made up of historical buildings and structures (1840-1910). In other words, half of your visit will be outside! I visited the museum in August, and it was hot. Inside the buildings there is air condition but it is not on blast. Wanted to make sure I made note of this for all my comfort creatures out there, best to visit the museum when it is not 100 degrees outside!

The purpose for my visit was to see the Abraham Lincoln exhibit. I walked down Main Street to the Pavilion where the exhibit was located, and the Pavilion is this modern building in the midst of historical buildings. For example, there is a law office, print shop, and general store on Main Street reflecting earlier days in Dallas. I didn’t visit many of the buildings because I only really had time for the exhibit. There is a free Tour by Cell audio tour to help you make sense of all the historical buildings and structures. I am a fan of audio tours, but most museum audio tours are overpriced, and so I encourage you to take advantage of this free audio tour.

The Dallas Heritage Village has livestock! I saw some really cute sheep. You can pet and feed the animals with the assistance of museum staff. Throughout the museum you will find first person characters wearing period clothing. You can buy hand made pottery from the Potter’s Shed, and take home other goodies from the little museum store. Check out dallasheritagevillage.org to see all that is offered to visitors.

The Dallas Heritage Village wants to take you to an earlier period in Dallas, and they succeed. If you like history, you’ll love this museum. If you want to go to a museum, but not your usual museum, this place will definitely work.

Besides from getting in for free on the first Sunday of the month there is also free parking! To get in on any other day is only $5.00 for adults, which is not bad and it benefits something in the city that should be treasured.