Learn About Life as a Pioneer at the pioneer village

Have you ever wondered what life was like for our land’s early pioneers? Thanks to the Kaysinger Bluff Pioneer Heritage Association, you will have a chance to learn.

The nonprofit organization has been educating the public since 1980. Located at the Harry S. Truman Dam Visitor Center in Warsaw, it is dedicated to preserving and presenting Benton County’s pioneer life as a living history. Pioneer Village is open the same hours as the Visitor Center, but the general store’s hours will vary. The general store contains an assortment of handmade items consigned by crafts from Heritage Days.

Events at the kaysinger bluff pioneer village

The Kaysinger Bluff Pioneer Heritage Association holds two annual events. Each are located on the Corp of Engineers property at the Harry S. Truman Visitor Center. Heritage Days occur each in the third week of October. These events feature a variety of heritage crafters and demonstrators of pioneer life to the location, drawing thousands of visitors from areas across the United States. For more than 30 years, visitors have been coming to Heritage Days to learn from the presenters and experience a taste of pioneer lives of the past.

Each year in early December, the Kaysinger Bluff Pioneer Heritage Association hosts a Christmas event. At this event, guests experience joyous sounds, smells, and sights the old times as a pioneer. Guests of this event are treated to a variety of experiences, including old-fashioned decor, wood stoves, fireplaces, singing Christmas carols, and other related pioneer table fare for everyone to enjoy. You are welcome to come early and stay late. The night is the time when you can observe the changes that come with the setting sun. In the darkness, you will have a chance to stroll  path lit by thousands of period luminaries. As you walk the trail, you can peek into windows illuminated by the light of oil lamps that were popular during the pioneer era.