Adair County Historical Society Museum: A Visitor and Research Guide

The Adair County Historical Society Museum is both a local-history museum and a working research archive.

That distinction matters.

You can walk through exhibits on Adair County history, then use the same institution to investigate a family, business, property or local event in greater depth.

Current visitor basics

As checked in September 2026, the museum is at 211 S. Elson St. in Kirksville.

Current regular hours are:

• Wednesday: 1–4 p.m.
• Thursday: 1–4 p.m.
• Friday: 1–4 p.m.

Admission is currently free, with donations welcome.

Hours can change for holidays or special events, so check the Historical Society's current site before making a special trip.

The building is part of the story

The Historical Society was first organized in 1916.

Its current museum building was also constructed in 1916 for the Sojourners Club, a Kirksville women's literary and civic organization.

The Sojourners operated Kirksville's public library in the building for decades before Adair County opened a newer public library.

The building later became the Historical Society museum.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 and became a City of Kirksville Historic Landmark in 2019.

What can you see?

The current museum inventory spreads exhibits across several floors.

Examples include displays on:

• railroads;
• coal mining;
• Kirksville schools;
• the 1899 Kirksville cyclone;
• Adair County businesses;
• military history;
• Jesse Kirk;
• the Kennedy Theater;
• Grim Hospital;
• osteopathic history;
• Porter School;
• the first Adair County courthouse;
• rural life;
• clothing, toys and household history.

Exhibits can rotate or change.

Treat the current website as the best source for what is actually on display when you visit.

The research room is more than a genealogy desk

The Society's current archive list includes:

• genealogical records;
• census records;
• probate records;
• plat maps;
• obituaries;
• yearbooks;
• Kirksville Daily Express holdings;
• microfilm scanner access.

That makes it useful for more than tracing family trees.

It can also support research into old businesses, property history, local institutions and newspaper events.

Remote research is available

The Society currently offers volunteer research for people who cannot visit in person.

As checked in September 2026, the posted rate is $25 per hour, with document copies at 10 cents per page.

Those prices are time-sensitive.

Confirm the current terms before requesting research.

Contact staff before a specialized visit

If you are traveling specifically to see one collection or locate one person, contact the museum first.

That can help confirm:

• whether the material exists;
• whether it is accessible during your visit;
• whether staff assistance will be needed;
• whether copies or scans are possible.

For a broader genealogy workflow, see How to Research Adair County Family History and Genealogy in Kirksville.

The useful mental model is simple:

museum upstairs, archive downstairs, local-history rabbit hole everywhere.