The working words of the St. Joseph, Missouri, CVB are “Saluting our heritage. Building our future.” Travel planners, though, should add a word to this phrase as they build future tours to this historic and lively city.
“People often wonder why they waited so long to come and visit St. Joseph,” says Gracia Pinzino, the CVB’s group sales and services manager. “Because once they’re here, they’re so impressed. They say they had no idea how much we have to offer.”
Consider these numbers: St. Joseph is home to 13 distinctive museums, 12 annual festivals, 48 parks, 56 houses and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and one Kansas City Chiefs Summer Training Camp. Visitors (and residents) also enjoy great outdoor recreation, outdoor concerts, and a vibrant arts culture.
Located in northwest Missouri at the crossroads of Interstate 29 and State Highway 36, St. Joseph is within easy driving distance of over 17 metropolitan areas—and only 30 minutes from North Kansas City. In January 2021, St. Joseph was named Best Historic Tour Town by True West magazine.
“We are easily accessible, and often people will overnight and maybe catch a museum the next day before leaving town and going to their final destination,” Pinzino says. “We’re glad that they do that, of course, but I find when people commit to visiting St. Joseph as their destination, they’re glad they did. They get to more fully experience all our diversity, history, and richness.”
It can take several days to visit all the city’s museums, and art lovers should start with The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, a premier historical mansion that houses one of the finest collections of 18th- through 21st-century art in the Midwest. Groups can enjoy private tours and art-making packages and find unique, local gifts in the museum store. Meeting and dining facilities are also available.
The original owner of the Georgian-style home was William Albrecht, a tycoon in the paper industry a century ago. “Today his home is the perfect backdrop for works by Mary Cassatt, Robert Henri, Edward Hopper, and influential regionalist Thomas Hart Benton,” says Pinzino.