Missouri Civil War Museum

10/20/2026

10/17/2026

We are less than two weeks away from the Jefferson Barracks Bicentennial Celebration! 🎉

We’re excited to welcome you to Jefferson Barracks for a once‑in‑a‑lifetime 200th anniversary celebration of the oldest operational U.S. military installation west of the Mississippi!

📅 Date: Saturday, October 24
⏰ Event Time: 10:00 AM –1:00 PM
🚪 Gates Open: 9:00 AM (entry may close once capacity is reached)
📍 Location: Jefferson Barracks Air National Guard Station (ANGS) (Access to the base and festivities will be through the Main Gate at Hancock Ave and Center Drive. Plan to park near the Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum via Gregg Road or the General Atkinson Shelter off Grant Road. There will be signs to guide you).

✨ What to Expect
• Family‑friendly activities
• Delicious food trucks
• Historic sights and special presentations
• Keep your eyes on the sky for exciting flyovers! ✈️

🅿️ Parking
Parking is available in Jefferson Barracks Park, with guests entering the installation on foot.
ADA parking: 74 Kearney St. (St. Bernadette Catholic Church)

🎒 What to Bring
• Clear or small bags (10” x 8” x 10” or smaller)
• Larger diaper or medical bags allowed (subject to inspection)
• Factory‑sealed, non‑alcoholic drinks; reusable bottles may be inspected
• Strollers and wagons welcome
• Cameras with non‑telephoto lenses allowed

🚫 What to Leave at Home
Weapons, alcohol, drones, and anything prohibited by military security.

For more information, please visit: https://www.131bw.ang.af.mil/JB-200-Open-House/

10/16/2026

Join us for the Jefferson Barracks Bicentennial Celebration! 🎉

We’re excited to welcome you to Jefferson Barracks for a once‑in‑a‑lifetime 200th anniversary celebration of the oldest operational U.S. military installation west of the Mississippi!

📅 Date: Saturday, October 24
⏰ Event Time: 10:00 AM –1:00 PM
🚪 Gates Open: 9:00 AM (entry may close once capacity is reached)
📍 Location: Jefferson Barracks Air National Guard Station (ANGS) (Access to the base and festivities will be through the Main Gate at Hancock Ave and Center Drive. Plan to park near the Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum via Gregg Road or the General Atkinson Shelter off Grant Road. There will be signs to guide you).

✨ What to Expect
• Family‑friendly activities
• Delicious food trucks
• Historic sights and special presentations
• Keep your eyes on the sky for exciting flyovers! ✈️

🅿️ Parking
Parking is available in Jefferson Barracks Park, with guests entering the installation on foot.
ADA parking: 74 Kearney St. (St. Bernadette Catholic Church)

🎒 What to Bring
• Clear or small bags (10” x 8” x 10” or smaller)
• Larger diaper or medical bags allowed (subject to inspection)
• Factory‑sealed, non‑alcoholic drinks; reusable bottles may be inspected
• Strollers and wagons welcome
• Cameras with non‑telephoto lenses allowed

🚫 What to Leave at Home
Weapons, alcohol, drones, and anything prohibited by military security.

10/15/2026

October 23rd officially marks the 200th birthday of Jefferson Barracks, and you are invited to celebrate with us!
- On Friday, October 23rd, we are holding a trivia night to celebrate this historic milestone and raise funds to continue preservation efforts at JB. The trivia night is currently fully booked, but a waitlist is available in the event of table cancellations. Don’t miss this fun and exciting evening!
- The following day, October 24th, will be the Jefferson Barracks 200th Anniversary Open House! Hosted by the Missouri National Guard, this event will feature living history, food trucks, games, aircraft flyovers, and speeches by the Governor and Adjutant General. Our museum will be open early, and historian NiNi Harris will hold a book signing in our gift shop for her newest work, “Jefferson Barracks: Defending the United States since 1826”. While here, don’t forget to grab some commemorative JB merch like shirts, magnets, and mugs to remember the occasion!

09/30/2026

For our ninth “From the Archives,” we have the desk of Civil War soldier and historian Wiley Britton! Britton was a native Missourian, but despite his state’s allowance of slavery, he was a staunch abolitionist. During the Civil War, Britton served in the 6th Kansas Cavalry, a unit that was present for battles at Newtonia, Prairie Grove, Cabin Creek, and Jenkin’s Ferry. Britton’s service throughout the Trans-Mississippi Theater provided the firsthand experiences that would inform his writing later in life as a historian. Britton wrote some of the principal works on the campaigns, politics, and personalities of the West during the war, including “The Civil War on the Border,” “Memoirs of the Rebellion on the Border,” and “The Union Indian Brigade in the Civil War.” This writing desk was used by Britton and was donated by a descendant to the Missouri Civil War Museum.

09/29/2026

Heads up! The Missouri Civil War Museum will be closed this Saturday, October 3rd for a private event. We will reopen the following day at 1:00pm. Thank you for your understanding, we hope to see you in our galleries soon!

09/18/2026

09/09/2026

For our ninth “Jefferson Barracks: Then & Now” post, we have the Post Cemetery! In 1827, a year after the military post’s establishment, the infant daughter of one of the soldiers stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Eliza Ann Lash, died and was buried on the hill just south of the parade ground. As time passed, she was joined not only by the deceased of Jefferson Barracks, but also by casualties from the Indian Wars and the Mexican War. During the Civil War, the post became one of the largest hospital complexes in the nation, and thousands who died from wounds or disease here were buried at the Post Cemetery. By the war’s end, there were 12,000 Federals, 1,000 Confederates, and hundreds of civilians at rest here, and in 1866, the site formally became as US National Cemetery. Monuments to the dead were added, including the Minnesota Monument and the 56th US Colored Infantry Regiment Monument. Burials continued here for veterans and dead from the final Indian Wars, the Spanish American War, and conflicts in the Philippines, and in 1904, the dead of nearby Fort Belle Fontaine were reinterred at Jefferson Barracks. During the World Wars, the cemetery frequently became the site of mass graves due to St. Louis’ proximity to the center of the United States, and the cemetery now has one of the largest number of group burials in the country. Today, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery has around 240,000 graves, from the American Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror.