Andrew County Museum

The Andrew County Museum and Historical Society in its original form opened in 1972. Originally located in the Andrew County Courthouse, the museum moved to the Clasbey Community Center in 1976. The museum was focused on the history of Andrew County from its inception to the current day. In the 1980s, Harry Duncan offered to assist the museum in designing and building a new museum building. The Harry Duncan building for the Andrew County Museum and Historical Society opened in 1989. The new building housed Mabel Dray’s Doll Collection as well as the previous museum collections and was supplemented by large donations from Harry and his wife Anneliese. In 1993, following the death of Harry Duncan and with the support of Anneliese Duncan, an addition was planned for the building: The Duncan Gallery. The Andrew County Museum continued as a history and doll museum until 1998. With the support of Anneliese Duncan, the Missouri Humanities Council, the Harry and Blanch Messick Charitable Trusts, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Board developed a strategic plan to create a new history museum in the Duncan Building. In the early 2000s a plan was implemented to redesign the Andrew County Museum, with a focus back on the county’s history. The introductory section of “Rural Way of Life,” the museum’s main exhibit, opened in 2006. The rest of the exhibit followed and opened in 2009. The current form of the Andrew County Museum focuses on the history of the county, on the rural way of life common to most in the county and in the area. As a tribute and thanks to Mabel Dray and Harry Duncan, the museum maintains temporary exhibits dedicated to various aspects of their lives and interests in the Duncan Gallery, which serves as temporary exhibit and programming space.