WELCOME to the Powers Museum in Carthage, Missouri

Powers Museum at 1617 West Oak Street (old Route 66).

Museum is closed for winter season and a major repair project.

Since 1988, the Powers Museum has been serving Carthage as a local history museum with rotating exhibits from the post-Civil War period to the 20th century.

Admission is by donation and your contributions, no matter how small or large, are appreciated and will be used for the direct operation of the museum.  

Marian Powers Winchester 1905 - 1981

Museum Established

The Powers Museum is a gift from Marian Powers Winchester to the City of Carthage.  At her death in 1981, Mrs. Winchester left a bequest "for the establishment and operation of a museum for the citizens of Carthage and the surrounding area."  She requested the museum's name honor her parents Dr. Everett Powers (1869–1954) and Marian Wright Powers (1880–1969).

The museum has presented dozens of public exhibits since 1988. Currently the museum is involved in several special educational projects including one Teaching American History Grant, the Carthage Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, and two on-going, multi-institutional research projects devoted to U.S. Highway 66 and the Jefferson Highway. Museum staff is available to talk to school and adult groups about these activities and the museum. Click here to see our Speakers Bureau offerings.

Other Museum Services

The museum's small Local History Reference Library is open until 4:00 PM (on days the museum is open to the public -- appointment needed during winter) for self-directed consultation.  Access to additional research resources housed elsewhere in the museum (such as archival collections and vertical files) requires an advance appointment for use.  (Tip: Those seeking to do genealogical work should consult the resources at the Carthage Public Library or the Jasper County Records Center. The museum does not have birth/death/marriage records nor census or local newspapers.)

The museum also conducts oral history interviews, particularly with military veterans and homefront workers for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project at www.loc.gov/vets. For more information on this project, click here.  If you know of someone who should be interviewed, please call the museum at 417-237-0456 or email powersmuseum@att.net. Also the museum is looking for volunteers to convert cassette tapes to digital formats and perform other duties associated with the veterans project. Again, please call or email if you have an interest in assisting us with this project.

On site is a Museum Gift Shop featuring books, family tree charts, posters, Route 66 and Jefferson Highway souvenirs, and reproduction holiday items. Four-state tourism brochures, Missouri state tourism guides and Route 66 or Jefferson Highway driving directions for Carthage and Jasper County are available, too.

Museum Support & Administration

The museum is administered by a board of seven community volunteers appointed by the Mayor of Carthage and they meet monthly at the museum, usually on the third Monday evening of the month. Public notices are posted at Carthage City Hall and at the museum. Visitors are welcome to attend.  The Powers Museum receives no tax support and is operated through donations, museum shop revenue, fundraising projects and the original Winchester bequest to the City of Carthage.  If you would like to donate to the museum, please send checks or money orders to Powers Museum, P.O. Box 593, Carthage, MO 64836.

Now looking for exhibit underwriters for FY 2012-13!  Contact Director Michele Hansford for further information. Underwritting levels begin at $500.

The Powers Museum's endowment is managed by United Missouri Bank.

HVAC Replacement support in 2011-12 has come from Friends of Powers Museum donors Tom Hilton, Bruce Vaughan, Barbara Harris Johnson, Judy St. John Detherage, Chuck & Ann Taylor, Dr. Steven Wagner, Dr. Angela Firkus, Mr. & Mrs. Dale Looney, Mr. & Mrs. James Newton, Glenita Browning, Ivan Hager, Dorothy Fulks, Henry Robertson, Jr., annonymous donors and all those who have purchased 2012 Carthage Route 66 Calendars during late 2011 and early 2012.   

Major support for this project has also come from the Kent Steadley & Mary Steadley Memorial Trust for which the Powers Museum Board is most grateful.