The Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Historic Site, locally known as the Mahaffie Farm, is located in Olathe,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. The house was originally a stop along the Westport Route of the Santa Fe,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

s, which originated in nearby Westport,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. The house's heyday came with large numbers of westbound travelers of the 1860s. The house has now been converted into a museum and gift shop. It is situated on almost 40 acres (160,000 m²) of land. It frequently hosts

American Civil War reenactment American Civil War reenactment is an effort to recreate the appearance of a particular battle or other event associated with the American Civil War by hobbyists known (in the United States) as Civil War reenactors, or living historians. Althoug ...

s, with a focus on events connected to

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

and

bushwhacker Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tra ...

s. There is also an in-house blacksmith and other various era-specific artisans. The original farm was founded by James Beatty Mahaffie and his wife Lucinda, in 1858. They ran it until 1870 and stayed on the farm until 1886. The existing house was completed by Mahaffie in 1865. It includes two foot thick limestone blocks quarried from the farm itself.Extract from the Johnson County Museum newsletter ALBUM
, Vol. XVII #2, Spring 2004 The Mahaffies left their name not only on the museum, but on a street in Olathe, Mahaffie Elementary School, and on a recent subdivision.

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External links

Stagecoach Stop & Farm Historic Site
Oregon Trail California Trail Bleeding Kansas Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas Buildings and structures in Olathe, Kansas Museums in Johnson County, Kansas Historic house museums in Kansas Stagecoach stops in the United States 1857 establishments in Kansas Territory Houses in Johnson County, Kansas National Register of Historic Places in Johnson County, Kansas {{Kansas-museum-stub