It was called the North Ward School. Hundreds of objects and documents touching on area history are on display and stored in the Museum's archives. Exhibits occupy thirteen rooms and areas on three floors of the old school building, which was donated for the purpose of a museum in 1983 after being vacant for several years. On the grounds stand a two-story log cabin which was erected in 1867.
Oral history suggests the cabin was designed as a country store.
It was moved from its rural location to the museum grounds in the mid 1980s. A lovely gazebo also graces the grounds of the museum. The most ancient man-made objects in the Museum's collections are arrowheads, tomahawk blades, and hide scrapers that date back as much as 10,000 years with the appearance here of the First Americans. A horsehair chair and sofa from 1815 predate Polk County's formation in 1835 and a bed in the McCracken room was made the year the county was born. Most of the old-time kitchen and farming implements still work, as does the rug loom.