John Wayne Birthplace & Museum

John Wayne Birthplace & Museum The John Wayne Birthplace & Museum includes his birth home and a museum with the largest ­­collect The Birthplace home is open daily.
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We are open seven days a week, 10:00am to 5:00pm except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Easter. Tickets are purchased at the Welcome Center, just north of the Birthplace home. The new John Wayne Birthplace Museum, adjacent to the Birthplace home, opened May 23, 2015. Both the Museum and the Birthplace home are handicap accessible.

06/01/2026

One of the rarest collectibles, a personalized mug from John Wayne!

"The John Wayne Birthplace has been hosting annual Birthday Celebrations since 2007 and we are continually amazed and hu...
05/26/2026

"The John Wayne Birthplace has been hosting annual Birthday Celebrations since 2007 and we are continually amazed and humbled by the support of our many friends and fans. People arrived from all parts of the United States and even Ireland but we take no credit ourselves. This is entirely thanks to the enduring spirit of John Wayne."

Another John Wayne Birthday Celebration is complete and in the books, but we still have one more bit of business to atte...
05/26/2026

Another John Wayne Birthday Celebration is complete and in the books, but we still have one more bit of business to attend to before we start planning next year's blowout…Duke's actual birthday. Winterset’s favorite son was born on May 26, 1907 at 216 S. 2nd Street (maybe some of you have visited that address a time or two). From that house, only a five-minute walk to the historic Iowa Theater, where Duke may have discovered film for himself, a legend came of age.

This past weekend, we celebrated more than just the film star; we celebrated the man, the father, the grandfather, and the patriot. We watched his films, heard from his family, and toasted and sang his praises. Now that we are all home with our own families, there is no better way to reflect on who John Wayne was than to remember the words that accompanied his Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. Although Duke wasn’t there to hear these words, President Carter speech paid tribute to the whole man and said what many of us felt so fully.

President Carter said John Wayne, “embodies the enduring American values of individualism, relentless bravery, and perseverance in pursuit of what is right. He was the quintessential patriot and will especially be remembered whenever our Nation faces a challenge calling for steadfast courage.”

Or we can listen a quote often attributed to Duke himself: “I've always followed my father's advice: he told me, first to always keep my word and, second, to never insult anybody unintentionally. If I insult you, you can be goddamn sure I intend to. And, third, he told me not to go around looking for trouble. ”

Happy birthday, John Wayne. Thanks for everything.

05/25/2026

The legendary western location...Monument Valley!

Good Morning Winterset. Day one on the 2026 John Wayne Birthday Celebration is down but today is just beginning. For t...
05/23/2026

Good Morning Winterset. Day one on the 2026 John Wayne Birthday Celebration is down but today is just beginning. For those of you attending our annual Breakfast Fly-In at the Winterset Municipal Airport, I hope you are ready for a great meal and to anyone running in the Winterset Rotary 5K, good luck.

If you were lucky enough to attend the Sold Out Opening Ceremony last night, we would love to see some pictures. If you have photos from last night, post them in the comments for all of Duke's fans to see.

Now, it's time to get out there and have a great day and take lots of pictures.

We're Burnin' Daylight.

In just a few short days, those lucky enough to make their way to Winterset, Iowa, for the John Wayne Birthday Celebrati...
05/20/2026

In just a few short days, those lucky enough to make their way to Winterset, Iowa, for the John Wayne Birthday Celebration will be settling into their seats at the Iowa Theater to see one of Duke’s greatest films, Rooster Cogburn. Aside from its two amazing leads, Duke and the incomparable Katherine Hepburn, the supporting cast is a master class in character actors. Among them is Anthony Zerbe, one of the most recognizable villains from the 1970s. Aside from playing Breed in Rooster Cogburn, Zerbe also played the lead vampire torturing Charlton Heston in Omega Man, and Dog Boy in Cool Hand Luke (which also starred Strother Martin, born on May 26, the same day as John Wayne).

Anthony Zerbe was born on May 20, 1936, and although he has been retired for a decade, he is still kicking. There is no doubt that he has some great stories to share about Duke. Happy birthday to Breed.

With only two days and a wake up until the celebration in Winterset begins, the weather services tells us that we are go...
05/20/2026

With only two days and a wake up until the celebration in Winterset begins, the weather services tells us that we are going to have beautiful John Wayne/big sky weather to celebrate our favorite star.

For those fans who are planning to attend the Jennifer Wayne concert and benefit auction on Saturday Evening, you will be enjoying the beautiful weather at Covered Bridges Winery. No better place to wind up the weekend and enjoy great music and other John Wayne fans.

There are still tickets available, get yours now and come celebrate Duke in his own hometown.

https://johnwaynebirthplace.museum/2026-birthday-celebration/

It took two months to drive cattle up the Chisholm Trail. It took four to six months to complete the Oregon Trail, and ...
05/19/2026

It took two months to drive cattle up the Chisholm Trail. It took four to six months to complete the Oregon Trail, and ten days for the Pony Express to get a letter from Missouri to California. While we all may pine for those long-gone days, if you want something adventurous, and get there a lot quicker and with a lot less mud and dust, we are only three days away from the 2026 John Wayne Birthday Celebration in Winterset, Iowa. You don’t need to hitch up your team of oxen or spring for a spare prairie schooner; just hop in your car, order tickets online, and, even if you take backroads and cattle trails, you can still make it by Friday.

A couple of events are sold out, but there is still plenty to do and enjoy. So saddle up, or buckle up, whichever you prefer, and head toward Winterset. As Duke would say…We’re Burnin’ Daylight.

Hope to see you on Friday.

https://johnwaynebirthplace.museum/2026-birthday-celebration/

05/18/2026

John Wayne brings so much life and history to Madison County!

John Wayne worked with a rotating troop of amazing actors and directors. When he found someone he liked, he stuck with ...
05/16/2026

John Wayne worked with a rotating troop of amazing actors and directors. When he found someone he liked, he stuck with them. We were lucky enough to get to see Duke and Henry Fonda, born May 16, 1905, together twice.

Fonda entered acting at the encouragement of Dorothy Pennebaker in 1920, four years before she would give birth to a son, Marlon Brando. Unlike Duke, Fonda got his start on the stage and not as a stuntman. In New York, he roomed with another future John Wayne costar, Jimmy Stewart. In 1935, “Hank” came to Hollywood and never left. After The Farmer Takes a Wife, his star just continued to rise for the next several decades, starring in Jesse James, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Grapes of Wrath, and John Ford’s My Darling Clementine.

In 1948, he starred as Lt. Col. Owen Thursday alongside John Wayne as Captain Kirby York, arguably one of his greatest characters. Thursday is full of complaints and anger at being thrown into a remote frontier fort, and he takes it out on everyone around him, including Duke. It would be hard to find a better acting class than the scenes between Duke and Fonda. Fort Apache is regarded as one of the greatest westerns ever made, even being included on the list of Top Ten Westerns by the AFI, and other lists of the greatest Westerns ever made.

Both John Wayne and Henry Fonda continued to make films that are listed among the greatest ever. The list of Fonda’s great movies is endless: Mr. Roberts, Midway, The Longest Day (although he shared no scenes with Duke), In Harm’s Way (with John Wayne again), Yours, Mine, and Ours, and an endless list of others. But he also made one of the great westerns of the 1960s and, maybe his only, turn as a villain. In 1968, Fonda starred as Frank, the evil gunslinger in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. If you haven’t seen it, please do. Too bad Henry Fonda didn’t play this kind of evil character against John Wayne’s American hero, the film would have been unstoppable.

Duke and Fonda made so many great films that you could spend a lifetime trying to catch up on watching them. Happy birthday to “Hank” Fonda.

Address

205 S John Wayne Drive
Winterset, IA
50273

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

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