The Johnson County Museum occupies the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center at 8788 Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park, a building that once housed the King Louie West bowling and ice-skating complex. Inside, the museum tells the story of how farmland on the Kansas side of the metro became one of America’s defining postwar suburbs.
The headline attraction is the 1950s All-Electric House, a model home built in 1954 by Kansas City Power & Light to sell suburban buyers on modern appliances. Guided tours lead through rooms furnished with period gadgets, pastel finishes and mid-century furniture. The permanent “Becoming Johnson County” exhibition traces the region from Native American homelands and the Santa Fe Trail through the explosive growth that followed World War II. Young children head to KidScape, a hands-on play space set in a kid-sized historic town. Rotating traveling exhibitions round out the galleries (source: [Visit KC](https://www.visitkc.com/listings/johnson-county-museum/)).
Visitor Highlights & Practical Info
The museum is open Monday through Saturday, 9 am to 4:30 pm. You can call 913-826-2787 with questions (source: [JCPRD](https://www.theatreinthepark.org/1170/Museum-Collections)). Weekday afternoons are usually quieter than Saturdays, when families fill KidScape.
All-Electric House tours run at scheduled times and space is limited. Check current tour times, admission and exhibit schedules at [jcprd.com](https://jcprd.com/427/Visit-Us) before you go. The center also hosts Theatre in the Park’s indoor productions in fall, winter and spring, so you can pair a museum visit with an evening show (source: [Johnson County](https://www.jocogov.org/contact-us/all-locations/arts-and-heritage-center)). Free on-site parking makes the Metcalf corridor easy to reach by car.
