Living History Farms is a 500-acre open-air museum located in
Urbandale, Iowa. The museum's mission is to educate visitors and demonstrate the past 300 years of Iowa's agricultural history. As its name implies, the museum follows the methodology of
living history in depicting the lives of people living on farms in the years of 1700, 1850, and 1900, engaging in various
agricultural activities. Dr. William G. Murray, an
agricultural economist from
Iowa State University and two-time gubernatorial candidate, founded the organization, which opened to the public in 1970. Dr. Murray's passion was not to have a museum where people viewed things under glass, but rather a place where history was lived.