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The Centre for French Colonial Life Campus Stage 2 of Reopening is underway! 

 

Great news -- The Centre for French Colonial Life has reopened to the public!  However, please be aware that our plans for the exhibit on the American Revolutionary War in the West have changed.  The opening event (which was scheduled for May of 2020 when we had to be closed due to the virus) was going to offer an opportunity for you to meet some of the contributing authors to the book of the same title, and included guests from Spain and France. Thanks to Covid-19, all travel plans had to be canceled and some of the items that were to have been on exhibit were delayed in transit.  So, put May 7th and 8th of 2021 on your calendar and plan to attend the opening of this spectacular exhibit next Spring. 

 

Meanwhile, we have created a special new interim exhibit that we think you will enjoy, titled “Augmenting The Evidence:  Study Collections that Document Change in Everyday Life on the Creole Frontier.”  This exhibit features original artifacts, many of which have never been shown to the public before, from various collections held by FCA, NSCDA/MO and various private collectors. 

 

In addition, we will resume our historic house guided tours (for groups of fewer than 10 in number and who are family or existing social groups – no mixing).  The Centre and the house tours have reopened for the next stage of activity, and for the present, the campus will be open to the public Thursday through Monday, and closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Hours are from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM  except on Sunday, when the hours will be from Noon to 4:00 PM.

 

For more information and ticket prices, please contact the Centre for French Colonial Life at 573-883-3105.

 

Please Note:  The size of the audience for any given guided tour or program activity will be restricted and social distancing will be practiced.  Our staff will wear masks and we encourage ou visitors to do likewise.

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The campus of the Centre for French Colonial Life was founded by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Missouri, and is now owned and managed by French Colonial America, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to education, research, and preservation.  

 

Museum temporary hours are:

• Tuesday and Wednesday - CLOSED

• Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

• Sunday, from Noon to 4:00 PM

• PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE CLOSED ON THANKSGIVING, CHRISTMAS EVE, CHRISTMAS DAY, NEW YEAR'S EVE AND NEW YEAR'S DAY, AND EASTER.  

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The museum campus, consisting of four late-18th and early 19th century historic structures — as well as the new exhibits and education building — tells the story of early French settlement in the upper Mississippi valley, and the development of a unique French Creole culture in this region, even during the time period when it was controlled by Spain, and later by the United States after the Louisiana Purchase.  Our programs  will introduce visitors to the stories of the people and processes that contributed to French Creole culture in this region, the importance of Spanish control, and the archaeology of French Creole settlements such as St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve and various sites in the Illinois country. 

 

For more information, please call us at 573-883-3105.