Civil War Museum

The completion of the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield General Management Plan (GMP) Amendment in the summer of 2007 confirmed what the Foundation and park officials had already suspected. The Civil War Trans-Mississippi collection that the National Park Service acquired in August of 2005 is being underused in its present location. The 15,000 artifacts in the museum, representing a lifetime of collecting by Dr. Tom Sweeney and his wife Karen, are currently housed in a building approximately a half mile from the Visitor Center, and many visitors do not take time to visit the nearby site. The GMP report concluded that the collection should be available to visitors in a new museum wing at the Wilson’s Creek Visitor Center.

Working with Superintendent Ted Hillmer, other park officials, and Foundation board members, Allen and Tait Johnson of General Design have developed an exterior design for the new museum addition. It includes a redesigned entrance, landscaping in the area in front of the Visitor Center, and a preliminary interior layout. After visiting several museums to observe exhibit layout and design, the Foundation’s Museum Committee interviewed a number of museum exhibit design firms. Vincent Ciulla Design Associates was hired to begin planning the schematic exhibit design for the new Civil War Museum. An exhibit design work group has met with the Vincent and Julie Ciulla and begun the time-consuming process of organizing information and artifacts for the new exhibits. We are committed to providing the visitors who come to Wilson’s Creek with a state-of-the-art Trans-Mississippi Civil War museum experience.

The planning phase of this project is being funded by the Foundation. While funding for the actual construction is not yet available, the Foundation will continue to make the NPS and our representatives in Washington aware of the critical need for this project.