MONMOUTH, Ill. — For Jason Robbins, this had to be done. When Robbins was a boy, he'd visit Wyatt Earp's birthplace, watching reenactments of the gunfight at O.K. Corral. Now, Jason and his wife, Jennifer, are leading efforts to revive the historical site.
"Those are fond memories a lot of the locals have," shared Jason, Acting President of the Wyatt Earp Birthplace 501C3 non-profit. "As you drive by and you see the property and the condition it was in, it just tugged at us. We decided we were going to jump in and see what we could do with it."
The Robbins bought the Wyatt Earp Museum back in 2022 when the previous owners felt they could no longer keep up with the maintenance. So Jason, Jennifer and local neighbors banded together to save the 19th-century home.
"This is American history that should be cherished in Monmouth, Illinois, and I would hate to lose that," Jason expressed as the reason behind the move.
Wyatt Earp's childhood home was originally built in 1841. The current owners wanted to preserve the home's character, deciding to keep the majority of the home's original features.
Remembering all the time he spent in Earp's yard, Jason hopes to pass its history down to a new generation of children.
"I would love to see, especially children have a passion for history that they may not have had before," added Jason. "To actually put their hands on a piece of history."
The Robbins say that two people have already scheduled their visit before pictures were added to the current Airbnb listing. You can schedule your stay here.