Mahaffie House
Encyclopedia
The Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Historic Site, locally known as the Mahaffie farmstead, is located in Olathe
, Kansas
. The house was originally a stop along the Oregon
and California Trail
s, which originated in nearby Westport
, Missouri
. The house's heyday came with large numbers of westbound travelers of the 1860s.
The house has now been converted into a museum and gift shop. It is situated on almost 40 acres (160,000 m²) of land. It frequently hosts American Civil War reenactment
s, with a focus on events connected to Bleeding Kansas
and bushwhacker
s. There is also an in-house blacksmith and other various era-specific artisans.
The original farm was founded by James Beatty Mahaffie and his wife Lucinda, in 1858. They ran it until 1870 and stayed on the farm until 1886. The existing house was completed by Mahaffie in 1865. It includes two foot thick limestone blocks quarried from the farm itself.
The Mahaffies left their name not only on the museum, but on a street in Olathe, Mahaffie Elementary School, and on a recent subdivision.
Olathe, Kansas
Olathe is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. Located in northeastern Kansas, it is also the fifth most populous city in the state, with a population of 125,872 at the 2010 census. As a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, Olathe is the fourth-largest city in the...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. The house was originally a stop along the Oregon
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
and California Trail
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
s, which originated in nearby Westport
Westport, Kansas City
Westport is a historic neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Originally its own town, it was annexed by Kansas City in 1897. Today, it is one of Kansas City's main entertainment districts.-Background:...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The house's heyday came with large numbers of westbound travelers of the 1860s.
The house has now been converted into a museum and gift shop. It is situated on almost 40 acres (160,000 m²) of land. It frequently hosts American Civil War reenactment
American Civil War reenactment
American Civil War reenactment is an effort to recreate the appearance of a particular battle or other event associated with the American Civil War by hobbyists known as Civil War reenactors or Civil War recreationists...
s, with a focus on events connected to Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
and bushwhacker
Bushwhacker
Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there are large areas of contested land and few Governmental Resources to control these tracts...
s. There is also an in-house blacksmith and other various era-specific artisans.
The original farm was founded by James Beatty Mahaffie and his wife Lucinda, in 1858. They ran it until 1870 and stayed on the farm until 1886. The existing house was completed by Mahaffie in 1865. It includes two foot thick limestone blocks quarried from the farm itself.
The Mahaffies left their name not only on the museum, but on a street in Olathe, Mahaffie Elementary School, and on a recent subdivision.