Last updated: 6/6/2019
970 10th StreetMarion, IA 52302
Private tours and group tours may be arranged
Granger House is closed on New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve.
Adults: $10
Granger House Members: free
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Sarah Hyatt
phone: 319-377-6672
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Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Granger House Museum is the only fully-restored, middle-class family home in southeastern Iowa. Occupied by a single family for nearly 100 years, the house contains many of its original furnishings and is arranged to reflect the lifestyle of a successful, late 19th-century middle-class family. Behind the home is an 1879 brick carriage house which contains a variety of artifacts revealing the occupant's involvement with Morgan horses, dairying, and farming.
We are a Blue Star Museum.
Our mission is to preserve, protect, and promote the history of Marion and to assure that this legacy is passed on to future generations.
Earl and Dora Granger moved into the house in 1873, and they or their children lived here until 1969. They were not famous nor wealthy; they were a fairly average middle-class family, the sort with which many Americans today would probably identify. Earl Granger was, in the language of the 19th century, a self-made man who operated a slaughterhouse and was a partner in a meat market. His wife, Dora, was a German immigrant whose primary responsibility was to raise morally upright children while making her husband look good by creating a beautiful, well-appointed home. They patterned their lives along the social expectations created by other members of the middle-class, and tried to instill these same ideals in their children.
The experiences of the Granger family are not much different than those of their neighbors or even other middle-class families across the Midwest. To learn more about their story and how others like them influenced the creation of today's Middle Class, plan to visit the Granger House Museum at your earliest convenience. We'll be expecting you!
The Granger House has an extensive collection of 19th-century furnishings, household objects, and textiles as well as agricultural tools, horse tack, buggies, and a sleigh. Family heirlooms, furniture, farming equipment, photos, personal items dating back to the 1860s.
Family papers, including diaries, personal letters, bills, children's homework, etc.
We offer a variety of diverse programs and events for the community at large.
We also offer tours tailored to students of any level, as well as to those with intellectual disabilities.
The volunteers of the Granger House are always excited to work with area educators! Whether short, child-focused visits for 1st and 2nd-graders, or in-depth, specialized tours for older students, we offer age-appropriate tours of the museum tailored to your needs, and can modify them to fit your schedule. Drop us an email or give us a call to learn how we can best meet your social studies, history, or decorative arts needs.
The Granger House Victorian Museum is owned and operated by the Marion Historical Museum Inc, and is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.
We offer a free monthly email, which can be accessed by our website.
Do allow up to an hour for regular tours. We try to tailor tours to your interests, time constraints, and reduce the length of our tours when young children are involved;
When scheduling group tours, please allow a minimum of 48 hrs advance notice;
Group Tours
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