Visit Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Historic Pharis Farm. Santa will be relaxing in the family room, while Mrs. Claus is busy making cookies to share.

Join Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site for A Spirited Holiday Past! President Grant’s home, White Haven will be decorated for the holiday season. Tour the home and create a holiday craft with your family. Confluence Chamber Orchestra will perform in the parlor and Suzanne Corbett will provide 19th century baking demonstrations in the historic […]

Join us for the 5th Annual Holiday Open House. Shop for gifts at the Richard Bookstore and visit the booths of many local vendors and artisans while strolling through the festively decorated Center for Missouri Studies. Enjoy holiday carols from members of Choral Arts Alliance of Missouri's Columbia Chorale from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. […]

Did you know that Missouri’s rocks record a sea that once covered central North America in the Carboniferous Period around 350 million years ago, which littered the sea floor with crinoids? Almost 300 million years later, the state dinosaur Hypsibema missouriensis roamed the earth after the sea dried up. About 12,000 years ago Mastodons grazed […]

The park staff and volunteers invite the public to celebrate the holidays with crafts, music, and refreshments. There will be readings of George Washington Carver's Christmas Letters, and selections of from the Missouri Slave Narratives.

Swedish Council of St. Louis presents its annual Sankta Lucia Festival at the Kirkwood Community Center Theater. It's a traditional Swedish Christmas with dancing, singing, elves, St. Lucia, and more. The Swedish Butik (boutique) will open at 2:00 pm. The narrated performance with traditional Swedish Christmas songs, dancing, Swedish elves, and Jul Tomte (Santa) begins […]

Learn more about this and other challenges George Washington Carver faced in his pursuit of a formal education.

SHSMO executive director Gary Kremer connects the past to the present in his latest book as he ponders why history played out as it did over the course of two centuries since Missouri’s admittance to the Union. In the writing of what is much more than a survey history, Kremer, himself a fifth-generation Missourian, infuses […]

SHSMO executive director Gary Kremer connects the past to the present in his latest book as he ponders why history played out as it did over the course of two centuries since Missouri’s admittance to the Union. In the writing of what is much more than a survey history, Kremer, himself a fifth-generation Missourian, infuses […]

December 15 and 17, 2023 Friday and Sunday 5-8 pm Scenes from “A Christmas Carol” at Historic Sappington House Walk through the cherished tradition of Christmas 1843 with Dance Discovery portraying the Fezziwig party and the Cratchit family singers as Anne Williams presents dramatic recitations. Ticket price includes tea and scones in The Barn restaurant, […]

The largest natural resource is the night sky. Come and learn about celestial navigation, star stories, and the effects of light pollution, including an outdoor constellation tour.

Learn more about how George Washington Carver mentored and influenced students at Tuskegee Institute and other youth who attended his lectures. Hear a reading of his 1922 letter of thanks for a Christmas gift from the senior class.

December 17, 2023 Sunday 5-8 pm Scenes from “A Christmas Carol” at Historic Sappington House Walk through the cherished tradition of Christmas 1843 with Dance Discovery portraying the Fezziwig party and the Cratchit family singers as Anne Williams presents dramatic recitations. Ticket price includes tea and scones in The Barn restaurant, a gingerbread house display […]

Open House – 5:30 – 6:45 pm Concert in Theater – 7:00 – 8:00 pm Experience White Haven in the evening during the holidays. The grounds and historic house will be lit up and the decorated rooms will be illuminated by candlelight. Period music will be performed in the parlor by guitarist Patrick Rafferty. Suzanne […]