Amelia Earhart Birth House Museum In Kansas

Our darling lost Amelia – look at this house in Kansas where she was born! How enchanting!

Amelia Mary Earhart 1897 – 1937

The Amelia Earhart Birthplace House in Atchison, Kansas is now an old house museum not only because it was the birthplace of Amelia, but also because she spent a significant part of her childhood living there.

This wood-frame Gothic Revival style house is located on a prominent bluff overlooking the Missouri River.

The house was built c. 1860-61 and belonged to Amelia’s maternal grandfather, Alfred Gideon Otis (1827–1912) who was a judge, president of the Atchison Savings Bank, and a leading citizen in Atchison.

Amelia Earhart was born here on July 24th, 1897 to Edwin Stanton Earhart and Amy Otis Earhart (Amy was the judge’s daughter).

Below is a photo of Amelia as an infant in her christening gown:

Amelia’s father was a lawyer whose job as a railroad claims agent required him to travel a great deal. As a result, both Amelia and her sister Muriel spent much of their childhood staying with their grandparents in this idyllic house in Atchison.

Judge Otis and his wife Amelia Otis lived in this house until 1912, when they both passed away. Unrelated families occupied the home for much of the twentieth century and the final family, the Allinghams, lived in the home until 1984 when they both died without children or a will indicating what should be done with the house upon their deaths.

A local citizen, Dr. Eugene J. Bribach, stepped forward to save the house and contributed $100,000 to the group the Ninety-Nines so they could acquire the property. The Ninety-Nines are an international group of female pilots of whom Amelia was the first elected president.

Since 1984, the Ninety-Nines have run the museum and it now hosts visitors from around the world seeking a connection to the lost aviator. The museum features Earhart memorabilia and artifacts as well as furniture that belonged to her family.

Pictured below is a vintage postcard of the home:

Despite always being on the move as an adult and living in many different cities, Amelia Earhart said that she considered Atchison her hometown because she spent more of her life in the Otis home than anywhere else.

Let’s have a look inside…

This 1860’s house has been lovingly preserved and kept as period appropriate as possible to the time when Amelia enjoyed her childhood there.

The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

The dining room displays several of Amelia’s former outfits.

The kitchen, pictured below, unfortunately doesn’t look much like a kitchen anymore. It is used as the gift shop and is filled with Earhart-themed merchandise that can be purchased.