jordan house

I'd never heard about the Jordan family and their efforts to help slaves and their part in the underground railroad. The woman giving tour was very informative and gave us so much history of the house, family, and the underground railroad. We enjoyed our tour and learned much! Worth the trip if you enjoy history and well kept old homes!

I visited the Jordan House on a school trip & I feel like I learned so much about the Jordan family tree and I didn't learn anything about the slaves or the underground railroad . Our tour lady told us all about the Jordan children & who they married but I was never told or shown where the slaves were kept . Wasn't that the point of the house ? I was overall disappointed !!

I love history and i was excited to visit this location that was used as an underground railroad point.....very interesting and also there is a ghost of the youngest child that roams the house.

Although small this is interesting if you love history. I visited this with other history teachers and we enjoyed seeing the home, the artifacts, and the information.

Interesting historical home. Was a waypoint for slaves escaping to the north during the Civil War. Overlooks the Racoon River Valley.

The West Des Moines Historical Society has slowly and carefully remodelled and renovated the Jordan House over the years. The Jordan House is a small museum telling some of the history of West Des Moines, IA, as well as James Jordan and his family. Don't miss the tour - it will show you the trap door and the basement which were used as part of the "Underground Railroad" trail that ran through Iowa. There is a legend that the society members had told that one of James Jordan's young children died while sliding down the banister and now the ghost can be heard laughing and playing on the banister.

History came alive when we visited this former stop on the underground railroad. It would have been more helpful to have more tour guides. And the upstairs of the home is a little bit disjointed with some makeshift West Des Moines exhibits that really have nothing to do with the theme of the museum. Very interesting piece of history.