Jesse James Home Museum

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The Jesse James Home Museum is located directly behind Patee House Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri and was only two blocks away when outlaw Jesse James was gunned down on April 3, 1882, by Bob Ford.

After the killing, the investigation into the death was conducted at Patee House Hotel (formerly the World's Hotel), and Mrs. James, her two children, and Jesse's mother stayed in Patee House for two nights after he was killed.

The house is not at original location. Jesse was shot at 1318 Lafayette Street. In 1939 it was moved to a busier Belt Highway location. In 1977 it was moved to Patee House at 12th and Mitchell closer to its original location.

The house has a large bullet hole on the left wall as you enter from the front. However, the hole was actually much smaller but shavings from the hole for souvenirs have enlarged it. Ironically, the original autopsy recorded that that there was no exit wound. Therefore, the bullet must have remained in Jesse's skull.

The Jesse James Home contains a number of items owned by Jesse James and his family, and new exhibits on the 1995 exhumation of the infamous outlaw, including coffin handles, bits of wood, and a pin Jesse James wore in his death photo, as well as numerous photos taken during the exhumation. In 1995, top forensic scientist Professor James E. Starrs, of George Washington University, conducted an exhumation of the grave of Jesse James. In February, 1996, he announced that DNA tests performed on the remains and compared to the DNA of existing known relatives proved a 99.7% chance that the body in the grave is that of Jesse James.

It is on the National Register of Historic Places