INDEPENDENCE -- One at a time, the group of Independence second-graders gripped a wooden handle and tried to spin the big stone slab.

White powder and yellow corn shells poured out of the circular grindmill as the students learned a little more about what goes into making cornbread.

"Take your turn. Better get your muscles going," said Leanne Harrison, assistant program director at Heartland Acres Agribition Center.

"It's hard," one of the students replied.

The second-grade class toured Heartland Monday, the latest addition of more than 30,000 people to visit the site and its attached convention center next door. Heartland celebrates its first anniversary this month.

A large map on the wall is marked with white dots on the various places from which those folks have visited.

Forty-six states are marked so far, including Hawaii and Alaska. There are also pins in places like Finland, Australia, Fiji, Namibia and Brazil. The list goes on.

"That's a lot of people for a little town like this," said Bruce Neeley, the center's executive director.

The Heartland Acres center cost around $7 million to build. State grants contributed around $750,000.

Other public money came from Independence's hotel and motel tax and from the county. The rest came from private donations.

The center has been largely self-sufficient, using grants and a nominal entry fee for projects and displays. A 225,000-square-foot event center next to the main complex also keeps personnel busy.

When Heartland opened, the goal was to create a place where people can get a hands-on primer on Iowa's agricultural heritage.

The hope was the building's appearance -- two 1800s-style hay barns capped with glass silos on either end -- and its location along U.S. Highway 20 would draw more tourists into Independence, along with some ancillary business.

A year later, a hotel, a theater and a restaurant have sprung up in the area.

"I think it's worked," Neeley said.

Mike McGill, event center manager, said he has been taking bookings at the center for 2010 already. The site hosts everything from high school proms to business conventions.

"We're just going gang-busters," McGill said.

Greg Halverson, Buchanan County Economic Development director, said the center's impact hasn't been measured but also believes there has been an impact on the area.

"The positive impact is probably from new people being here, taking tours, being able go to restaurants, visiting stores," he said.

Donna Simmons, an Independence second-grade teacher's assistant, said she thought Heartland Acres provided a good opportunity for students to learn about the hardships faced by early settlers in Iowa.

"So many of them don't have the idea of what it would be like to work on the farm to keep your family going," she said.

This was Simmons' first stop through Heartland, and she was surprised to see the things on display there.

Lately, there have been more school groups touring the center, said Brandon Brockway, programs and education manager for the center. But many other groups, from seniors to farm tractor collectors, show up.

"Personally, I like the older groups because they remember a lot of this stuff," Brockway said. "They grew up on the farms, and they remember a lot of this stuff from the past."

Neeley said that is common. Often, residents will bring children, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandchildren to the center.

Another sizable chunk of visitors comes straight off the highway, lured by the sight of a large barn on the side of the road.

Neeley said he is waiting on the Iowa Department of Transportation to put up road signs along Highway 20 alerting travelers to Heartland.

Staff members also point to their listing, along with Independence, with the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage area. That puts Heartland in the same grouping as the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque and the Grout Museum in Waterloo.

In an era of high prices, many people are rethinking vacation destinations, and a trip down Highway 20 to see such local sites becomes more appealing.

"It's really becoming a nice route for people out sightseeing," Brockway said.

Heartland officials hope to capitalize on the relationships between the museums by providing new displays and more hands-on content.

Heartland is planning a new program beginning this month on veterans of past wars in honor of Armed Forces Day. About a dozen other programs are also in the works.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.