Published by 3 Fields Books, 2022, 272 pages

“Why Midwestern history? Because I love American history, and the history of the Midwest is, to a greater extent than most people realize, a key element of that history. … [P]eople need to know…how many sensational, fun places there are to explore the events that shaped both the region and the nation.”

That quote from Cynthia Clampitt’s introduction sums up the purpose of this book. Destination Heartland is practical guide to the historical part of the Midwest, a region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The Midwest was settled faster than any other region, and in the 1800s, many innovations came from here, including the airplane (the Wright brothers were born in Wisconsin). It was also the farming heartland of the country, responsible for growing the food for a burgeoning population. Reading this book gave me a real sense of the way this part of the country grew and its contribution to the US.

The region is full of open-air museums, or places where you can relive the past, with people—known as interpreters—dressed in period clothing. Old World Wisconsin is a typical open-air museum: in buildings dating from the 1840s to 1910s, you can watch blacksmiths working, a school lesson or women preparing a meal, just as they would have back then. 

Many museums and sites are dedicated to the peoples who make up the Midwest: Native Americans, African Americans, Slovaks, Czechs, Polish and more. The African American Museum in Kansas celebrates Black people such as Ronald Waters, who helped stage the first successful sit-in; Ruben Waller, born into slavery but became a soldier and lived to 105; and Junius Groves, an agricultural scientist who, in 1902, was known as the “potato king of the world” and became one of the wealthiest African Americans in the US. African Americans played a key role of in the city’s history—Kansas was a safe place for those escaping slavery.

Being a foodie, I was particularly interested in the historic restaurants and inns Clampitt visits. Breitbach’s Country Dining in Iowa has been open since 1852 and run by the same family since 1862. The oldest continually operated hotel in Illinois is DeSoto House, which opened in 1855.

Every place that Clampitt visits has a detailed entry, both about what to see and the history surrounding it. She includes details a visitor might miss. For example, in Brucemore, a Queen Anne mansion in Iowa, she suggests looking up at the house because every chimney is different.

This is a rich and varied collection with something for everyone, even though Clampitt says that her book is far from a comprehensive listing. But if you take this book along as a travel companion to the Midwest, you will be kept busy! 

This review first appeared on Women on the Road.