Families looking for ways to entertain out-of-town guests or keep children occupied during the long Thanksgiving weekend may want to consider a visit to the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City’s River Market – but only for one more year. The museum recently announced that it will close when its lease expires in November?2026, after a 30-plus year run.
“For more than three decades, families have walked these halls, discovering a story buried in time – and finding their own reflected in it,” the museum posted on its website. “This final year is a chance to revisit those memories and write one last chapter together.”
The museum has long been a favorite destination for history buffs and school field trips. In September 1856, the three-year-old, 171-foot-long Steamboat?Arabia, loaded with more than 200 tons of cargo bound for 16 frontier towns, struck a tree snag and quickly sank to the bottom of the Missouri River – just six miles west of Kansas City.
Over the years, the Missouri River shifted its course, leaving the Arabia and its valuable cargo buried 45 feet beneath a Kansas cornfield. In 1988, the ship was excavated by a team led by Bob Hawley and his sons, David and Greg Hawley, along with friend Jerry Mackey and restaurateur David Luttrell.
The ship and its cargo, preserved in mud for more than 132 years, yielded remarkably intact artifacts: crates of china, tools, guns, children’s toys, shoes, textiles, including clothing, and – famously – what are often called the “world’s oldest pickles.”
A new home for the steamboat?
Museum curators say they are working to find a new home for the Arabia collection, according to KMBC News. The urgency is real: the City Market Oversight Committee put out a request for proposals to redevelop the current museum site. Their vision includes a boutique hotel, street-level retail, and an underground parking garage – while preserving aspects of the market’s historic architecture.
Matt Hawley – son of David Hawley and grandson of Bob – has publicly acknowledged that parking issues at the current location played a significant role in the decision not to renew the lease. He told KCTV: “Come November 13, 2026, the doors will shut here. The wheel will be turned off for one last time.”
At least in Kansas City.
That said, the family remains hopeful. “We hope to have a new home for the Arabia collection, but nothing is guaranteed – except for this final year,” the museum said. In past years, there were serious talks about relocating to St. Charles, Missouri, including plans for a larger facility to display not only the Arabia artifacts, but also those from another sunken steamboat, the Malta.
Mayor Quinton Lucas responded to the closure by expressing openness to the future of the site. “We’ll continue to work with anyone to make sure that we have an active, interesting, and family-friendly City Market,” he said, noting that the city is “ready to explore creative options.”
The Arabia Steamboat Museum is located at 400 Grand Boulevard, and remains open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. For more information – including tickets, special events, and updates on the search for a new location – visit www.1856.com.
–Dwight Widaman
