Hamilton Missouri

What would you think of a town of 1800 that attracts over 100,000 people annually to purchase fabric? I didn't think much of it, until 3 1/2 years ago when I first came to this town and immediately fell in love! No wonder so many flock to this rural community, nearly an hour north of Kansas City, of Hamilton Missouri.

Boyhood home to James Cash Penney  (JC Penney corporation) and Zack Wheat (MLB Player), Hamilton has pride much wider than it's streets or any field that can be plowed. Once a bustling railroad town, it fell on hard times until 2008, when things started looking up once more.
Missouri Star Quilt Company began with humble roots 10 years ago with a few short YouTube videos. Now, the company has over 400 employees, more than 500 YouTube videos featuring world famous Jenny Doan, and over 500,000 Facebook followers. If that isn't cool enough, they also have 13 quilt shops on Davis Street in Hamilton where thousands of quilters congregate year round to add to their "stash" of fabric and the newest sewing notion to help them with their quilts. Specifically the week of Birthday Bash and JCPenney Days, the town population more than doubles overnight with guests!
So how did I get involved in this grand adventure? As luck would have it, my bestest cousin Meg (lets be honest, she is my favorite out of 49...yes I have 49 cousins) presented the idea of a Bed & breakfast to me in this small town in 2015. I hopped on the bandwagon to fulfill my childhood dreams of owning my own B&B one day! Just over three years later my husband and I have transplanted our family to Home Inn Hamilton, opened a boutique Retreat Hotel Hamilton and Event Center, built a monument in the form of the World's Largest Spool of Thread (sponsored by Aurifil) and are currently renovating Hamilton's oldest existing school house to create the Largest and most unique quilt museum in the country, Missouri Quilt Museum. How blessed are we to be on this journey!!
Over the next few posts I will share information about these adventures, other great businesses here in town and maybe we will meet a few people along the way too. Come along for the ride!