The park includes a number of buildings, many of which serve as museums displaying period pieces. The reproduction of the Immigrant House (far left building below) is to scale, which gives visitors a good sense of the living conditions for the first thirty-five Molotschna Mennonite families who emigrated to Henderson in 1874 (our family came five years later, in 1879). The Immigrant House is packed with various items of historical interest (more on a particular item below), so plan on spending some time discovering all the artifacts held there.
Although it does not appear in the photograph above (but see the aerial shot below), a Burlington & Missouri River railroad depot stands north of the Immigrant House. This building is a close replica of the old Henderson railroad depot that stood near Kroeker Grain and Lumber. The latest addition is a railroad car that was delivered just yesterday (see here)!
To the right (north) is the park’s Visitor Center/General Store, which contains not only interesting books and items to buy but also a valuable collection of “family books” documenting the names and dates of many Henderson Mennonites. I did not see a Buller or Franz Family Record there, but I did find a copy of Elsie H. Friesen’s In the Days of Our Youth: The Mennonite Heritage and Descendants of Johann and Cornelius Siebert. Johann, of course, was the father of Sarah Siebert Buller, who was married to Peter D. A quick glance through did not reveal any information not previously known to us, but the book does deserve a closer examination at some point in the future.
Just to the north of the Visitor Center is a one-room schoolhouse, complete with antique desks and other items typical of that period. The schoolhouse, District 73E, was originally located 2 miles west of Henderson. Further north is an impressive barn that bears witness to Mennonite ingenuity. The man who built the barn was often away from home, so he designed the barn so that all animals could be fed from the front, so that his wife would not be forced to go behind them, where she might be kicked.
Northeast of the barn is the Country Mennonite Church. Its wooden benches and separate entrances for women and men convey a real sense of the worship life of our ancestors. A two-story house to the west of the church is filled with antique artifacts appropriate to the early twentieth century. The last building in the park (for now) is a machine shed where one can see early tractors and assorted other farm implements—and a display of the early digging and drilling of wells by the Thieszens: John J., Daniel, and Abraham J. The irrigation display will be developed into an entire irrigation hall, once the park’s next building is constructed to the southwest (?) of the barn.
Suffice it to say that a visit to the Henderson Mennonite Heritage Park will not disappoint. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and excellent tour leaders. (Adeline Huebert led my tour, and along the way we discovered that Adeline and our family are related distantly through Isaac Peters.) The gift shop sells a number of books (I bought Lois Preheim’s A Pact: Three Men and a Spade, a history of deep-well irrigation in Henderson) and even t-shirts that read: The Road from Molotschna Ends in Henderson (I got a gray one).
I encourage you to visit the park if you can (1 May–30 September 30, Tuesday–Saturday 1–4 PM). You can also learn more about the park at their website here. Be sure to watch the 5-minute video on the home page (or here). You can also like the Mennonite Heritage Park on Facebook here.
Now about that particular item mentioned above … it’s late, so I leave you with a photograph and a promise of discussion in the next day or two.
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