I am not a fan of westerns. I could care less about John Wayne but when the hubby says he wants to see John Wayne's birthplace, we go to John Wayne's birthplace. The hubby does not watch movies so for him to want to go to something non-sports movie related, we better go. I don't mind stopping at birthplaces especially places that have been around for a long time. I love to see how vastly different these people lived compared to modern times and yet it is usually less than 100 years ago or so.
John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in 1907 in Winterset, IA and moved to Southern California as a young child. His birthplace home still stands today in Winterset and this is what we went to see.
The Birthplace and Museum is open seven days a week, except for major holidays from 10-5 (10-4 Dec-Feb). It is $15/adult and $8/child to visit. It is completely self guided. You start at the museum and then can walk down the block to the actual house.
The Museum is filled with artifacts from his Hollywood days and life as a movie star. There are a lot of movie posters hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. The museum is really one giant room. There is also a theater that shows a biographical film about every 15 minutes. They are building an addition so more memorabilia can be on display. I kind of wish we waited to go until the addition was done so there was more to look at.
John Wayne's birthplace is a small three room house. There is a docent inside to tell you about the house and then you can explore it. It is very humble even for a pharmacist.
Outside his birthplace is a barn that includes the cannon that was used in the movie The Alamo. That was very cool to see.
John Wayne fan or not, his birthplace is worth checking out as he is an iconic piece of Hollywood history. You can easily do the covered bridges of Madison County and John Wayne's Birthplace in a morning.
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