I found another home that helped free slaves during the Underground Railroad. Because I'm on a history venture of finding all of the homes, I was EXCITED to find this one. Thank you for keeping this historical gem available for everyone to learn true history.

We stopped by one day and were met at the entrance and were advised the tour had already. Then we were curtly asked to leave. Probably won’t waste our time!

Had an opportunity to visit the Jordan House and do a tour with family over the Thanksgiving weekend. Was able to a learn alot about early pioneer and settlers of Valley Junction or Wes Des Moines. Interesting to learn how they lived, decorated their homes, involved in cattle farming and crop farming, and members of the underground railroad moment of slaves in Iowa. Nice to see how the generations of Jordan still support the landmark house. Also loved seeing the home decorated for Christmas.

The tour was about an hour. I liked learning about the Jordan family. The tour guide was very personable. Be sure you check ahead of time, depending on the time of year. The house is only open limited hours for tours. It is also open monthly for special events.

This is a house with a ton of history related to the founding of Iowa and Des Moines, and the Underground Railroad. Sadly, the home was stripped of furnishings decades ago (with one exception) so the interior is filled mostly with pieces that would have been typical of the period, although a few of the Jordan family pieces have been recovered, including a rifle given as a gift by John Brown and a great bedroom set. The interior is interesting, but I was most interested in the link to the Underground Railroad, which seems to have mostly been through the connection between the owner and John Brown. It was a little disappointing to not find secret tunnels and hideouts, but still interesting. Tour lasted about 90 minutes since it was the last one and had no deadline. I did hear the guide explaining that an acre is about 3/4 of a mile square, which made me question the rest of her information a bit!