Group-Friendly Attractions

Winterset Historic Courthouse Square

Shop the award-winning Winterset Historic Courthouse Square.

Let the group eat on their own (we have at least 8 eateries on the square) and have some time to shop. There are over 20 retail/gift shops on the square in our award-winning retail district, including one of Quilt Sampler’s Top Shops (Piece Works Quilt Shop) and a Ben Franklin store. The Winterset Retail District won the 2019 Iowa Tourism Award for Outstanding Retail Experience!

Iowa Quilt Museum

Tour the Iowa Quilt Museum located in the former J.C. Penney building on the Winterset courthouse square. The museum welcomes quilters, quilt lovers, history buffs, and all appreciators of American art and culture. Their mission is to promote appreciation of the American quilt and the art of quilting through displays of quilts and information about quilt history. The museum offers changing exhibits—three to four per year—of American quilts both vintage and new.

• Admission is $6 per person. 
• Estimated time to tour: 45 mins

John Wayne Birthplace & Museum

Tour the award-winning John Wayne Birthplace & Museum. Since the John Wayne Birthplace Society was established in 1982, more than a million visitors have journeyed to historic Madison County to tour his birthplace home. With the opening in 2015 of the 6,100 square foot museum, visitors now have the opportunity to see the largest diversified exhibit of John Wayne artifacts in existence, including original movie posters, film wardrobe, scripts, contracts, letters, artwork, and sculpture, and even one of his last customized automobiles.

• Your $15 admission fee (for groups of 20 or more) gets you into the museum and his birthplace home (which is located on the same block).
• Estimated time to tour: 1.25 – 1.5 hours

Madison County Historical Complex

The Madison County Historical Complex is located on 18 picturesque acres in Winterset. The museum houses over 10,000 artifacts of local history, while around the complex 14 buildings (mostly authentic) have been gathered and are open for visitors. These include the Bevington-Kaser House, the Winterset Train Depot, a Zion Church, a one-room schoolhouse, a barn full of antique farming equipment, and much, much more. 

• Admission is $4 per person for groups of 20+. 
• Estimated time: 1.5-2 hours

The Iowa Theater

The Iowa Theater, our fully-renovated 1913 single-screen cinema, offers a special short program on the theater’s history and renovation just for groups. The program includes a short video about movies made in and about Iowa, and freshly popped popcorn and soda for your guests. 

• $10 per person ($5 per person without refreshments).
• Estimated time: 45 minutes