Wyatt Earp Experience

The Wyatt Earp Experience is a historical exhibit unlike any other. It examines the life of Wyatt Earp, leading visitors through his childhood, relationships, and legacy as they explore the rooms where he lived in the early 1860s. The self-guided audio tour is part of admission into the Pella Historical Village.

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The boyhood home of Wyatt Earp was built in 1855 by the brothers B.H. and J.H.H. Van Spanckeren, who used the building as a home and merchant-tailor store. The architecture is rare in the Midwest; its 18th century Dutch style is normally only seen in the Netherlands or eastern United States.

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The Earp family lived in the Van Spanckeren Row House in the bottom floor apartment during the Civil War. Since then, many people have lived and worked inside the building. It has become a landmark which people from across the country have visited Pella to see.

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In 1966, the Van Spanckeren Row House became the first official office of the Pella Historical Society and Museums and the starting point of the Historical Village Museum. In 1990, the Van Spanckeren Row House was named on the National Register of Historic Places, both for its unique architectural design and because of its famous tenant, Wyatt Earp.