Museums, Festivals and Other Attractions in Mason City
Mason City is the hometown of Meredith Willson, composer of “The Music Man.” To honor Meredith Willson the city built Music Man Square which features a 1912 streetscape with a gift shop, ice cream parlor, and soda fountain. All of these are set in designs from the Warner Brother’s movie “The Music Man.” There is also a museum of Meredith Willson’s memorabilia and a children’s Exploratorium featuring many hands-on activities. Just a short walk from Music Man’s Square is the Meredith Willson Footbridge spanning Willow Creek and is featured on the Prairie School Architectural Tour and the Historical Walking Tour. Meredith Willson’s boyhood home has also been restored and is located next to Music Man Square. It is an 1895 modified Queen Ann house.
Mason City is also home to Prairie School Architecture with several buildings in the community designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Prairie School Architectural Tour covers 14 blocks and the Historical Tour is another 13 blocks. Both are self-guided tours of the largest selection of Prairie School designed homes and a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. A tour guide is available for a small fee at the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum or at the Frank Lloyd Wright Stockman House.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Stockman House was designed in the Prairie School style and built in 1908. It offers a challenging look to the common frame houses of that era. It has an open floor plan with a living room flowing into the dining room which flows into the veranda and all centered on the fireplace. This fully restored home has furnishings depicting that era. It is the only Prairie School house designed in Iowa by Wright.
Another Frank Lloyd Wright construction is in the process of being restored and expected to be finished by 2010. It is the Park Inn Hotel, which is the only remaining hotel in the world that was designed by Wright.
The Charles H. MacNider Museum offers many transitory educational and artistic exhibits, art classes, films, concerts, and much more. The museum is housed in an historic Tudor Revival mansion. A permanent collection of 19th and 20th century American art features sculptures, photographs, paintings and prints.
Also featured at the MacNider Museum is a permanent collection of puppets created and collected by master puppeteer Bil Baird (1904-1987). Mr. Baird grew up in Mason City and became one of the world’s leading puppeteers. Born in Grand Island, Nebraska he traveled the country with his family as his father was a chemical engineer. He became interested in puppets at an early age. His first puppet was a string puppet made by his father. By age 14 Bil was making his own puppets and putting on performances of “Treasure Island” in the attic of their Mason City home. Baird’s career spanned over 60 years touching the lives of millions of people through television, films, puppet theaters, and Broadway plays.
You can also experience frontier life at the Kinney Pioneer Museum through vintage exhibits and living history. The museum offers a pioneer village with a log cabin, blacksmith shop, one-room school house, and demonstrations of pioneer trades and crafts.
Lime Creek Nature Center is a public conservation area located on the limestone bluffs of the Winnebago River. A variety of wildlife and natural resource displays such as hands-on nature exhibits, an amphitheater, forest and wetland habitat, and over nine miles of hiking trails offer something for every outdoor enthusiast.
Mason City Veterans Monument honors 2,300 veterans from the Mason City area carved on Black India Granite stones standing eight feet high and weighing 4,000 pounds.
Mason City Community Theatre highlights local talents performing a wide array of productions. The performances are usually held in October, December, February, April, and May.
Stebens Children’s Theater offers productions planned for all age groups and performed by local area talent. Performances at the Children’s theater are usually held from September to May.
Cannonball 457 built in 1912, is a former Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway steam locomotive number named the “Cannonball” and it has been restored to reflect its appearance in the late 1940’s and is located in East Park next to the Prairie Playground.
The Mason City Family Aquatic Center offers many water activities for the whole family. Some of the water rides and activities are a spray zone play area for the kiddies with a Music Man theme. Sea creatures, mushroom waterfalls, lily pads, a basketball hoop and a kiddies tunnel slide draw the younger crowd and even some of the older ones. And speaking of the older group a 177-foot open flume slide gives way to a thrilling ride and plunge into a shallow pool. Also available is an enclosed water slide of almost the same length plunging into the same shallow pool. At the deep end of the lap and recreation pool are two diving boards and high board, low board, and a 27-foot drop slide.
Mason City also has a family YMCA Recreation Center where you can play basketball, racquetball, swim, and workout in their state of the art fitness center. The Y is open 7 days a week.
There are also two bowling lanes in Mason city – Mystic Lanes and Rose Bowl Lanes.
Mason City has four baseball diamonds, outside tennis courts, and basketball courts.
There are also numerous bike trails, hiking trails, and cross country skiing in and around Mason City. And for the extreme kid there are rollerblade, skateboard, and bike ramps at the Lester Milligan/Ray Rorick Park.
The Mason City area has many camping grounds also. Clear Lake State Park (10 miles) has 186 sites a dump station, showers, restrooms, tent camping, and 176 sites have electric. Linn Grove County Park (12 miles) has 65 sites with electricity a dump station, showers, restrooms, and tent camping. MacNider Campground in Mason City has 140 sites and 120 have electric. They also have a dump station, showers, restrooms, and tent spaces. McIntosh Woods State Park (10 miles) has 49 sites and 45 have electric. They also have showers, restrooms, tent spaces, and a dump station. Wilkinson Pioneer County Park (8 miles) has 44 sites with electric and they also have showers, restrooms, tent spaces, and a dump station.
There are also many areas in and around Mason City for fishing:
� Clear Lake State Park
� Georgia Hanford Park
� Lester Milligan/Ray Rorick Park
� McIntosh Woods State Park
� East Park
� Lime Creek County Park
� Linn Grove County Park
� MacNider Campground
Mason City has four golf courses/driving ranges:
� Highland Park Municipal Golf Course
� Mason City Country Club
� North Iowa Golf Center/Miniature Golf/Driving Range
� Pine Creek Golf Course
Kick your shoes off and rock onto the beautiful hardwood floors of the Surf Ballroom, located just 10 miles from Mason City. This beautiful ballroom dressed out in ocean-front wall paintings and booths bringing back memories of the good old rock-n-roll days of the 50’s. This is the home of the last concert ever performed by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson. The Winter Dance Party of February 1959 ended when the three singers got aboard the chartered plane along with pilot Roger Peterson and crashed on takeoff from the Mason City airport and this was truly “the day the music died.” Many mementos from this concert can be seen at the Surf along with treasures of many other great concerts by big name entertainers.
Mason City and the surrounding area is the perfect place for your next vacation, social event, or meeting.
