Hover over numbered points on the map for more information.
| 1. Heritage Center | 2. Farm House | 3. Cellar | 4. Ice House | 5. Animal Pens |
| 6. Chicken Coop | 7. Wash House | 8. Smoke House | 9. Horse Corral | 10. Blacksmith Shop |
| 11. Peg Barn | 12. Farm Implements | 13. Barn | 14. Garden | 15. Crop Field |
| 16. Crop Field | 17. Crop Field | 18. Public Restrooms | |
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- Heritage Center
The Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Historic Site offers a unique hands-on experience for visitors of all ages focusing on 1860s farming, frontier life and stagecoach travel while preserving the nationally significant Mahaffie Story. Mahaffie is the last remaining stagecoach stop open to the public on the Santa Fe Trail.
The Heritage Center exhibit, I Knew It Was A Fine Country, tells the stories of the Mahaffie family, early Olathe and Johnson County, the western trails and stagecoach travel. The exhibit includes a 12 minute film offering more of the site’s history. The video “Border War Voices” allows visitors to learn about what settlers went through during the Border War era.
There is a Gift Shop with historic gifts and books available for all ages. The Heritage Center also offers rental facilities for all your needs - weddings, receptions, luncheons and parties. Please call us for more information.
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- Farm House
The Mahaffie Farm House was built in 1865. The family had originally come from Indiana in 1857 and settled in Olathe. In 1858, this farm became available and was purchased by J.B. Mahaffie. They moved their home from Olathe to this site and in 1865 built this limestone home with stones quarried nearby.
Stagecoaches and wagon trains heading to Santa Fe would go down the outside door into the cellar where they were served meals of biscuits, pies, vegetable stews or whatever the Mahaffies had on the stove that day. Sitting at the tables and served family-style, the Mahaffie stop was considered one of the better places to eat along the Santa Fe Trail.
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- Barn
Open in May, 2014 with nearly 8,500 square feet of space, we offer our visitors hands-on, close-up historical interpretations with our livestock (horses and oxen), and our antique farm implements.
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- Garden
The garden was important to the Mahaffies, and all pioneers, for providing fruits and vegetables to the family. While they were a stagecoach stop, they would have had a large garden in order to provide meals for all the passengers. Today we grow many of the same vegetables that they would have grown, and we use them in our cooking demonstrations in the cellar of the farmhouse.
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- Ice House
A Mahaffie original building built in 1865 along with the farm house. It was filled with ice each winter to provide cool refreshment through the summer. As there were no refrigerators at this time, the ice house was also used as a place to store milk, cheese, and other dairy products.
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- Farm Implements
Our Wheat Thresher, Sorghum Press and Corn Grinder are all horse-powered. We have demonstrations throughout the year, especially in the fall months. During our Winter On The Farm activities, you might find us making real maple syrup taken from the Maple trees at the Olathe Memorial Cemetery.
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- Cellar
Stagecoaches and wagon trains heading to Santa Fe would go down the outside door into the cellar where they were served meals of biscuits, pies, vegetable stews or whatever the Mahaffies had on the stove that day. Sitting at the tables and served family-style, the Mahaffie stop was considered one of the better places to eat along the Santa Fe Trail.
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- Animal Pens
Our goats and sheep offer our visitors an up-close look. We shear our sheep in the spring (watch our calendar for this event) and use the wool for knitting our mittens, shawls and scarves. Feel free to touch them, they are friendly.
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- Chicken Coop
This reproduction chicken coop is based on an original coop built in Missouri in the mid-1800s. Like most animals on this site, our Dominique chickens are of a historical breed appropriate to the 1860s. We gather and use the eggs for our daily interpretations in the cellar of the house, and also for school programs.
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- Wash House
In the summer, pioneers would do their washing and cooking outside to keep the house cooler from the wood burning fires. When our site is open, you will find one or more of our interpreters scrubbing, rinsing and hanging out the laundry.
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- Smoke House
Smoke houses offered a way to preserve food. In the nineteenth century, salting and smoking were the best methods to keep meat from spoiling. Properly prepared, the finished hams, sausage, and bacon could keep for a year or longer.
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- Horse Corral
On our living history days, you might find our horses in the corral taking a break from pulling the stagecoach. The gray Percherons are called Chip and Ace. The brown Percherons are Star and Hotshot.
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- Blacksmith Shop
The site’s blacksmith shop is a reproduction. It is not a precise replica of an original building. Not every farm had its own blacksmith shop, but the Mahaffie operation did because it was a stagecoach stop and traveler’s way station. Be sure to say “hello” to the horses in the horse corral when you come by.
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- Peg Barn
This barn is thought to be the oldest structure standing on the Mahaffie farm. When you get inside, look carefully at the construction of the barn’s frame and you will notice the use of wooden pegs or trunnels to connect the timbers.
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- Crop Field
As they farmed back in the mid-1800s, we also practice crop rotation. Some years you will see a wheat field, and other years we will be growing corn and sorghum. By rotating crops, the soil will retain its nourishment, and the plants will grow stronger and better.
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- Crop Field
As they farmed back in the mid-1800s, we also practice crop rotation. Some years you will see a wheat field, and other years we will be growing corn and sorghum. By rotating crops, the soil will retain its nourishment, and the plants will grow stronger and better.
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- Crop Field
As they farmed back in the mid-1800s, we also practice crop rotation. Some years you will see a wheat field, and other years we will be growing corn and sorghum. By rotating crops, the soil will retain its nourishment, and the plants will grow stronger and better.
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- Public Restrooms