Begin your visit at our Linden House which is located directly across Main
Street from the Bolduc House. Built in 1820, our shop, parlor, and center hall gallery
are in the original part of the house.
The Gallery Hallway: The gallery was the original porch which explains
why there are steps up to the other rooms. It contains a fabulous painting by Grant
Kniffen. Dubbed “Making Salt”, this painting illustrates how Louis Bolduc and his
partners processed salt from the nearby Saline Creek in the late 18th
century. There is always something interesting in our exhibit case at the end of
the gallery. We change the exhibit about once every six weeks.
The Shop: Step up to get into the shop. It is filled with affordable
mementoes of our French colonial American site. For some reason we have quite a
few squirrel-themed items, as well, for sale in the shop – not for pecans, though,
no matter what Zuts tries to tell you.
The Parlor: Whet your appetite for the rest of your Bolduc House Museum
experience by watching the video in the parlor. It is a lovely room that doubles
as the headquarters for The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in
the State of Missouri.
On proud display here:
- Documentation that we are on the National Register of Historic Places
- Our Preserve America Award
- Our Designation as a National Historic Landmark
Making Salt by Grant Kniffen
The Rozier Library & Heritage Room: More than 400 rare books comprise
the Rozier Library collection. They were donated to the Bolduc House Museum from
the Ste. Genevieve School District and we make them available to the community when
a curator is present with an appointment. Many of the books are in French. Some
were published in the 18th century. The subjects span Catholic devotional
books, early text books in French and English, and early Missouri law books. The
Colonial Dames also have a collection of books here. We are expanding our collection
to include genealogy resources and other items that local historians need. In addition
to the books in the library, upstairs is where our archives are stored – original
18th century documents, photographs of the restoration of the Bolduc
House and much more.
The Offices: The main museum office is in the Linden House across the Gallery Hallway from the Shop – you can always interrupt whoever is in the office because here, you, the visitor, are the most person and priority of our day – Don’t tell Zuts the Squirrel, though. He thinks everything revolves around him. Our curator’s office is upstairs.
The Kitchen: It looks cool and we do our Native American Ceramics
classes in there but it isn’t that special. Really we use it as a kitchen and our
staff break room. Of course, if you are holding a reception, wedding, or other event
in the Linden House Yard, you may borrow the kitchen and the adjoining service area
for your preparations.
The Boxwoods: The grove of Ste. Genevieve boxwoods in the Linden House
Yard is probably 250 years old. We can fit a whole fourth grade class with their
teachers and parent chaperones inside the bushes and, from the outside, the group
cannot be seen at all. While you are outside, don’t miss the Lewis & Clark Garden.
Zuts would direct you to the pecan tree in the center of the yard. If it is fall,
watch for falling pecans!
Plant Nursery: Patti raises most of the heirloom vegetables and herbs
for our gardens in the basement plant nursery on the south side of the Linden House.
If she’s around when you visit, she’ll probably let you see the seedlings in the
nursery – the steps are pretty steep. Zuts likes to sneak into this place to nibble
on the tender shoots which makes Patti mad.
The Linden House is a great place to hang out while you wait for the next guided
tour of the Bolduc and LeMeilleur Houses to begin.