By FINN HARTNETT

Staff writer

Mennonite Heritage and Agriculture Museum doesn’t look like your typical museum. Then again, the Mennonites weren’t your typical settlers.

Mennonites began to arrive in Marion and other Kansan counties from southern Russia (modern-day Ukraine) in 1874. The religious group had been situated in Russia for 200 years. But increasing threats of intolerance and mandatory military service meant they decided there was no more room for them under Czar Alexander II.

After learning about the tolerant and far-reaching pastures of Kansas, hundreds of Mennonite families packed up their things and made the journey across the Atlantic.

Among the things they brought was a strain of winter wheat, Turkey Red, which proved so dependable it became the ancestor of virtually all winter wheat grown in Kansas.

Thirty-three immigrant families settled in modern-day Goessel, where the museum now stands.

Officially opened in 1974 on the hundredth anniversary of the families’ arrival, the museum consists of eight buildings. It is more spread out than most museums, but in a pleasant way, allowing one to stroll between barn, school, and house as the Mennonites did so long ago.

The museum honors and maintains Mennonite history. Six of the eight buildings have been preserved and restored from more than a hundred years ago. The artifacts inside the buildings are similarly historical.

The museum’s founders “wanted to have showcases where the original families would be recognized, and where their descendents could put in items they wanted to preserve,” director Fern Bartel said.

The museum does not receive money from the city government. It does have an endowment, most of which comes from Mennonite donors.

“We’ve had three buildings painted last year,” Bartel said.

Bartel has a deep connection to Mennonite history, having descended from one of the first settler families.

A picture of her grandparents and a trunk her great-grandparents took with them on their 1874 journey are proudly displayed in the Immigrant House building, a lovingly cluttered room that features family showcases as well as a re-created Mennonite boarding room.

A highlight of the museum is its largest building, the Turkey Red Wheat Palace, which focuses on Mennonite agricultural tools. There is a sparse beauty to the antique threshers, tractors, fire trucks, and other machinery that fill the room. The machines’ old paint jobs and the room’s woody aroma only add to the feeling.

An enormous replica of the Liberty Bell made entirely of wheat also rests in the Palace.

Another highlight is the South Bloomfield School, a beautifully restored one-room school building down to the desks and chalkboard.

Mennonites used to make up the majority of Goessel’s population, in part because of large family sizes. Over time, Mennonites either left the town, the church, or both, their numbers dwindled. Today, only around 10% to 25% of Goessel’s population has Mennonite heritage, Bartel estimates.

“My mother had 10 siblings, and I have one,” she said.

Similarly, museum attendance can be sparse.

“There can be weeks where I don’t have anybody,” she said.

But she also spoke about how there are rushes when she least expects them. “One time, I had four couples [who] didn’t know each other, and they came in within a half-hour,” she said. “Two were from Europe — Sweden and Italy or something — one was from Texas, and one was from Indiana.”

Relatively low attendance means there can be an eerie feeling to the old and empty buildings. They can feel almost haunted by the ghosts of Mennonites past. Nevertheless, the museum is an extraordinarily impressive space. Each building is cool, even in late summer heat, and there are enough old and strange objects that one could spend all day reading their inscriptions. 

One gets a sense, above all else, of the way immigrants were able to live and thrive in America, and how America profited as a result.

The Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum is located at 200 N. Poplar St. in Goessel. Attendance is $5 for those 13 and over and $2.50 for those 7 to 12.