The William S. Hart Museum is planning a free summertime open house for children next week.

The Hart Mansion will be open for walkthroughs on Thursday, July 19 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and shaded activities will be available for children on the back lawn and sun deck behind the museum from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The open house walkthrough format will provide children an opportunity to look at the inside of the Hart’s 1927 hilltop mansion without having to stay through a formal tour. Docents will be stationed throughout the museum to point out things used in the past that would be of interest to this age group.

One such area is Hart’s phone room, complete with a 1928 Newhall phone directory and the wall phone, without a dial, which harkens back to the days where one had to be connected to a telephone operator.

In the living room, there will be touchable objects for children such as a bison pelt, steer horns, a branding iron, and cowboy chaps. Cowboy John will be on hand to help children lasso Bessie, the museum outreach program’s calf prop.

Several crafting activities for children will be held behind Hart’s Mansion. A tree-shaded back lawn will have a storytime area featuring western and cowboy children’s books. Shade canopies will be on the sun deck to cover a children’s craft area.

One sun deck activity will be making paper sack puppets.

“We’ve also made a small puppet theater for the children to use,” said Madison Leas, a college volunteer organizing activities over the summer. “Once they’ve made their puppet, they’ll have the opportunity to use the puppet theater to put on their own show.”

The Park’s barnyard, with their new alpacas, will be open, as well as the picnic ground for meals or relaxation. The William S. Hart Mansion is located at the top of the hill in Hart Park in Santa Clarita.

Guests may walk up the nature trail or the 8 m.p.h. paved drive. The park’s bison herd can be viewed from the paved drive. Caution should be taken when walking the paved drive, as park vehicles use this access area. The parking lot behind the mansion is available for those individuals unable to walk up to the mansion.

A pass may be obtained at the Hart Park Office, Trading Post, or by calling the Museum at 661-254-4584. The Hart Park entrance is located at 24151 Newhall Ave., Santa Clarita, CA 91321

For more information, contact the Hart Museum at 661-254-4584.

Ed. Note: This information was provided to KHTS by the William S. Hart Museum

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.