A Review of The Pioneer Museum in Fredericksburg – Is it Right for Families?

On a recent family vacation to Fredericksburg, Texas we visited the historic Pioneer Museum.  Situated prominently along Main Street in downtown Fredericksburg, the Pioneer Museum is an outdoor collection of 10 historic buildings on 3.5 acres of land preserving the history of the original German settlers of Gillespie County.  It was a super fun and educational morning for our family! This place makes for a remarkable family trip for so many reasons.

The following is a review of the Pioneer Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas.  My family and I received complimentary admission in exchange for my opinion of the museum. All opinions are my own.

Why Visit the Pioneer Museum?

Viewing the old architecture and actually walking through real homes of people from days gone by brings history to life for kids in an amazing way!  Walking in their footsteps, you can imagine yourself living in another era. It just can’t compare to reading about history in a book. The Pioneer Museum has buildings representing homesteads dating all the back to the 1850s filled with artifacts that characterize the German heritage of the original settlers.

READ: 4-Day Family Friendly Fredericksburg Itinerary

How does the Pioneer Museum Work?

Visitors to the Pioneer Museum complex begin at the Domach-Bosier House, a former residence and later a part of the Sunday House restaurant.  This beautiful building currently functions as the gateway to the Museum where you purchase tickets.  It also houses their gift shop.

Upon entering, families grab a map and go on a self-guided tour at their own pace.  Our first stop was an incredibly helpful video that explained the German heritage of Fredericksburg and how it was originally settled.  My kids really enjoyed this short video which helped to put the history into context.  It led us to deeply admire the struggles the immigrants endured as they abandoned their German homeland for the promise of land and a new start in America. Each family only brought with them 1 trunk full of belongings across the ocean!

For homeschool groups and school fieldtrips, the Pioneer Museum offers pre-arranged guided tours during the weekdays. These tours sometimes even include meeting descendants of the founding families of Fredericksburg! Kids can also participate in hands-on pioneer activities like making corn-husk dolls or churning butter. There are plenty of grassy areas, tables, and benches for a picnic lunch on the grounds, too.

What is There to See at the Pioneer Museum?

The Weber Sunday House

After the video, we began at the tiny Weber family Sunday house.  It was called that because it was a small, simple 1-room house that families built in town and used primarily on Sundays when they made the 7-mile trek into town to attend worship services.  What a wonderful example of devotion to God and worshiping together with others! The house also included a loft above that is not open to the public, but my kids thought it was funny that the only access to it initially was through a ladder at the back until stairs were added much later.

The Fredericksburg Volunteer Fire Department Museum

This building housed pieces of antique fire equipment from the early 1900s. We marveled to imagine responding to emergencies with horse-drawn wagons!  This was the only building that we could not actually walk into, but we could see the fire equipment through the glass.

The White Oak School

Next up was the 1-room schoolhouse.  This might have been one of our favorite buildings!  The kids enjoyed sitting in the antique desks and pretending to be students of days gone by.  On the blackboard at the front of the room were German phrases to practice and there were examples of ink pots and other school paraphernalia. 

The Walton-Smith Log Cabin

The log cabin dating to the 1880s boasted two rooms and was decorated with period antiques representing what it might have looked like when a family lived in it long ago.  In the front room, there was a bed and the sweetest baby cradle at the end of a bed, across from the fireplace.  I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of it!  The back room housed a stove and a kitchen table.  The log cabin was originally located outside of town but was acquired by the museum, disassembled, and rebuilt on the Pioneer Museum property.

The Wagon Shed

After that, we wandered over the to wagon shed and enjoyed looking at several old wagons.  We imagined traveling across the rolling Texas hills with everything the family owned packed inside – after coming all the way across the ocean by ship.  Wow, what a journey!

The Fassel-Roeder House

Although it is called a house and styled as a home today, this historic building stands on its original location and began as a butcher shop along Main Street.  In later years, the owners added on a kitchen, living room, and front porch.  Today, the home is furnished with period artifacts representing an era beyond the log cabin.  It boasted beautiful artifacts such as a Grandfather Clock, an antique wheelchair, and a gorgeous music box. 

The Kammlah Barn

Next, we wandered over to the big Kammlah family barn built between 1855 and 1880.  My son thought this was the absolute best stop because it was filled with antique tools, gears, pulleys, and other instruments.  There was also an area demonstrating how some of the settlers crafted furniture including some of the tools they used. Fascinating!

The Kammlah Homestead

After seeing their barn, we then went over to the Kammlah family homestead.  This unique structure is unlike any other building I have ever seen before!  Owned and built by the Kammlah family for generations, they continued to add on to the home in stages as the family grew, making it a complex hodge-podge of rooms in two different buildings.  Still in its original location along Main Street, the large front room was originally a store for the German settlers.  Parts of the home were set up representative of how they may once have looked.  The back part of the home was set up as a mini-museum and had a collection of various antiques and artifacts representing the original settlers as well as photos of the Kammlah family.

The Smokehouse

Another of the buildings on-site is the smokehouse. The Kammlah family built this structure behind the family homestead and used it to cure meats and smoke sausages.

The Arhelger Bathhouse

The last building we viewed was the bathhouse.  This little one-room structure built between 1910 and 1940 was originally tucked behind the Arhelger Barber Shop.  Patrons could get a shave and haircut and then head to the bathhouse for a hot bath.  Today, it displays a large tub as well as some of the barber chairs and antique tools used in that trade.

READ: 5 Reasons to Teach History Not Social Studies

How Long Does It Take to Visit the Pioneer Museum?

Altogether, it took us about an hour and a half to wander through all the homes and buildings.  However, if you have older children, you might want to go a bit slower.  I would have liked to slow down and take in more of the history, but my toddler thought a faster pace was better!

Each building has a 2-minute automatic audio voice recording that tells about the home as well as the families who lived there, making it easy for even the youngest children to learn bits of history.  Some of these audio interpretations were recorded by descendants of the original owners, which is really cool!   In addition to the audio interpretations, there is also some written information explaining the history of the structures.

Another fun addition was Mr. Frederick Burger, a cartoon cut-out of a Pioneer Boy. He was hiding somewhere inside of each building and offered additional information about some of the artifacts. My 6-year-old thought it was really exciting to find him inside of each structure!

What Ages Can Visit the Pioneer Museum?

This was such a fun and fascinating way to learn about the history of Fredericksburg!  Our kids range in age from 2-15, but they all enjoyed the on-the-go self-paced nature of this Museum.  We enjoyed getting a small taste of the German heritage that is so dear to this historic Texas town and learned a lot just by walking through the places the original settles once walked.  It was educational and interesting for kids and adults alike.

It makes for a fun family day, a fabulous hands-on school or homeschool fieldtrip, as well as an interesting place for adults to visit! As a mom, I know I can be hesitant to bring kids to a place with the word “museum” in the title, but the Pioneer Museum was definitely kid-friendly and just right for families!

This summer, the Pioneer Museum is hosting special Little Pioneers events for children every Thursday morning at 10:15 called Homestead Adventures Summer Series. They have a super fun line-up of Pioneer activities like candle-dipping, bow & arrow hunting, butter churning, and making homemade ice-cream – something different each week! There is so much we can lean from these early settlers! Space is limited to only 20 participants, so be sure to get there early!

How Do You Purchase Tickets to the Pioneer Museum?

There’s no need to purchase tickets ahead, you can just purchase them whenever you arrive as you are strolling down Main Street.  The Pioneer Museum is open Monday through Saturday 10am-5pm.  For more information, check out their website or follow them on Instagram @littlepioneersfbg.

Fredericksburg is such an amazing little Texas town, steeped in history and tradition. There are so many things here to see and do!  Check out our family’s kid-friendly 4-day Fredericksburg Itinerary for a done-for-you plan, but the Pioneer Museum is a definite must-see stop!