The Gift Shop at the Jordan House Museum has a selection of unique, educational and fun items for purchase!

In Stock Again! Hand-embroidered dishtowels
$8

These charming 100% cotton towels feature adorable animals, fruit, veggies, butterflies and holiday images. What a unique gift, just in time for the holidays! Pictured below are some of the towels, but there are more designs available at the Jordan House Museum.

 

Pursuit of a Dream; James Jordan: His Life and His Legacy
Author: Louise Gately
$29.95

Virginia homesteader and cattle farmer James Cunningham Jordan moved his family in 1846 (the year Iowa entered statehood) to their new property in an area that would later be named Walnut Township, located five miles west of Fort Des Moines No. 2 on the northern bank of the Raccoon River, he not only staked his family’s claim, but sowed the seeds for Valley Junction (now known as Historic Valley Junction), which blossomed into West Des Moines.

Ms. Gately’s recounting of Jordan’s impact not just on the area that became West Des Moines, but in the state of Iowa as well. Jordan was a prominent and influential businessman, politician and abolitionist. He would first play a vital role in Des Moines, where he helped secure the railroad, relocate the state’s capitol, establish the State Bank of Iowa, create Iowa’s insurance industry and was elected to the Des Moines City Council, Polk County Board of Supervisors, Iowa Senate and Iowa House of Representatives. Most importantly, his home, which is now that headquarters for the West Des Moines Historical Society, served as a safe house for enslaved people who escaped the South via the Underground Railroad.

Notecards
$2.50

10 unique designs are available. Keep as a memento of your visit, or be historical and send a hand written note instead of an email or text!