That’s it – it’s over! And what a success it was!

At the beginning of 2021 I decided to go on an undertaking that I knew was likely going to make me busy for no reason, and possibly stress me out. That may sound bad, but truthfully it’s a good thing simply because I spent the better part of 2020 staying inside and laying around in a depressing malaise due to the Global Covid-19 Pandemic. In 2019 I went to TONS of concerts only to have that entire thing ripped away the following year. I needed something to keep my mind busy, keep me from reading the news, and keep me from letting depression take me over.

As I stated in my very first post – “My two goals […] that have stuck for this year have been: “I have a bunch of unread books, I need to read more this year” and “I haven’t been to any local historical sites in a LONG time, maybe I should go to them.” Both are easy to do and both are relatively inexpensive.” So I set out, made a plan and did it. At the beginning, I figured I’d go to like 5-10 sites, and here we are after finishing 28!

I decided to read a book that correlated to each place, as stated here:

“During this project, I have decided to give myself homework of sorts. I plan to read something, a book preferably, on the subject at hand for each excursion. The reason for this being, I want to know what’s going on, just in case they are either closed, the guided tours don’t happen, or its slanted in one direction or another for political reasons. I was really worried about the latter in regards to my next topic (Battle of Lexington), but I will get to that next time.”

I know some sites like to use Lost Cause stuff or revisionist history at times, so I wanted to come in armed with all the knowledge I could. This was especially useful at the handful of Mormon sites I visited.

This was very fun, but my tip for anyone wanting to do something like this is to make a plan using your state historical websites, and try to group sites together that are relatively close together. You can easily turn this into a great learning experience for children. I probably wont do this exact thing next year, but be on the lookout for more museum trips on my site!

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 1) Fort Osage State Historic Site

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 2) Battle of Lexington State Historic Site / Oliver Anderson House

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 3) Lone Jack Civil War Battlefield and Soldier’s Cemetery and Museum

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 4) 1859 Jail, Marshal’s Home and Museum

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 5) Second Battle of Independence Historic Markers Driving Tour

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 6) Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 7) Historic Liberty Jail

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 8) Clay County Museum

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 9) Bushwhacker Jail

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 10) Battle of Mine Creek Historic Battlefield

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 11) Marais Des Cygnes Massacre Memorial Site

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 12) Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 13) Missouri Town 1855

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 14) Auschwitz: Not Long Ago, Not Far Away at Union Station

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 15) Frank James Gravesite

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 16) Black Jack Battlefield

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 17) First Battle of Independence Walking Tour

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 18) Lecompton, Kansas

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 19) Fort Scott Historic Site

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 20) Jesse James Bank Museum

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 21) Truman Library and Museum

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 22) Santa Fe Trail Markers

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 23) The Grave of “Bloody” Bill Anderson

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 24) John Brown Museum

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 25) Bushwhacker Museum

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 26) National Frontier Trails Museum

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 27) Chicago & Alton Depot

2021: History Boy Summer (Part 28) The Bingham-Waggoner Estate

To see all of the links, click HERE