Raymond Blake constructed this building to house his collection which was rarely open to the general public. After his death, the building was boarded up for approximately 20 years. The family heirs had a total of 13 auctions to liquidate the Blake collections.
The architecture resembles that of the 1850’s. For example, the original front entry doors came from the demolished Chrisman Sawyer Bank that probably dated to the 1850’s – so they were close to 100 years old when they were installed on The Old Blake Museum.

Curious objects like old millstones from the grinding mills, Civil War rifles and sabers, Indian artifacts, corn grinders, ice skates, elephant vertebra, petrified wood, and other fossils were mortared into the brick and stone building.

During the final 3-day auction in November of 2002, Betty Key and Ted Stillwell purchased the property in an effort to save it from demolition or radical re-design and remodeling. Stillwell stated, We wanted was to save this unique and interesting piece of local history for future generations to enjoy as we have. Plus, we needed the commercial building space and adjacent living quarters.

After extensive renovation and restoration, we opened our doors to the public on October 7, 2004. Originally, we brought to the community of Independence an art gallery and an open studio (Stillwell Studios and Gallery); a book store specializing in Civil War, American history, Local history; and other non-fiction topics (Blue & Grey Book Shoppe); and unique gifts and Civil War re-enactor supplies (Key Goods & Arms). For a period of time we had exhibition and meeting space for various organizations, such as the Civil War Round Table of Western Missouri and the Independence Art Association. Those organizations have grown and have now moved on to larger spaces.

Currently the upper level gallery houses our eBay store items, Betty’s handmade & vintage shop items, and our online book shops for topics other than history: Key Goods and Arms books and more books.

Oh, come on in and look around, I don’t bite.
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