Walt Disney

Downtown, next to the railroad tracks that
Disney's family used to move here from Chicago
and is now an Amtrak line an old building is now
the Walt Disney Hometown Museum.
10/15/21 dwm photo

As we drove east across Missouri the road reminded me of a journey the Lutheran High speech team and I made to a tournament in Seward, Nebraska.

I mentioned to my wife we had returned to Indianapolis on a road like this and what I remembered most was passing a small town that said it was home to Walt Disney.  I quickly added that U.S. Highway 36 couldn't be the same route because it didn't feel the same.

It was more than 10 years ago that our team went out to compete in the Concordia University - Seward high school speech competition.  

It was our second time in Nebraska and a whirlwind for the team - as we drove 10 hours west on Friday, competed Saturday, then drove back to Indianapolis Sunday.  The kids on the team enjoyed the trip, competed well, and I remember both of those long weekends as highlights of my time as the speech coach at Lutheran High (my day job was fund raising).

The Disney's moved into this farm house just
north of Marceline when Walt was 4 years old.
10/15/21 dwm photo

 This time when we saw the sign inviting us to stop in Marceline, the boyhood home of Walt Disney, we took the exit.   The Walt Disney Hometown Museum wasn't open yet, but when we learned the actual home he lived in was standing we checked it out.

According to Disney History 101 Walt's family wanted out of the tough Chicago neighborhood they lived in and Walt's uncle (Robert Disney) owned a business and properties in Marceline, Missouri.

Elias and the two oldest boys road on a freight car with their household belongings while Walt, Roy, and little sister came down with their mom on a Santa Fe passenger train.

This is a sapling from the
Cottonwood tree where Walt,
and Ruth would dream about
the future. 10/15/21 (dwm)

 They moved into the house their uncle had ready for them.  While the rest of the family were busy tending to the crops and livestock, Walt was mainly responsible for his little sister, Ruth.

 That house is privately-owned, but the owners are kind enough to have a sign posted along the street (photo above right) and several parking spaces and a walking trail to the Dreaming tree and the re-created Disney Barn.

 It was practically a magical experience, to read the signs, gaze up at the tree, and walk into the barn where visitors are encouraged to leave a message.

 The 10,000 square-foot Disney Hometown Museum wasn't open when we stopped in Marceline, but we spent a good half-hour walking around the area where Walt spent six years that he said shaped him more than any other time in his life.

The original Dreaming tree was struck by lightning in 2008 and the rest destroyed by a windstorm in 2015.  A sapling grown from a seed of the Dreaming tree was planted by Walt's grandson, Bradford, in 2004.

A re-creation of the Disney farm was built in 
2001 the same year the Disney Hometown
Museum was dedicated. 10/15/21 (dwm)

A sign near the tree noted that Walt's father was a serious man with no time for foolishness, however, an aunt noticed something in Walt and secretively furnished him with tablets and sharpened pencils.  He spent time under the tree crafting stories, many inspired by his life in Marceline.

The movie, "So Dear to My Heart," released in 1948 recounts some of what Walt and Roy experienced on their Missouri farm.

Marceline is clearly proud to be Disney's hometown.  It's nice to see that displayed in an authentic and genuine Midwest style.