♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Just north of the River Bluff Scenic Byway in Spillville is a museum composed of timeless tributes to some of the area's famous history.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] In 1913, brothers Frank and Joseph Bily began woodcarving on their family farm to pass the time during long northeast Iowa winters.

In 1915, the pair constructed their first clock.

♪♪ [Sharon Kleve] Well, the Bily brothers were born on a farm about four miles north of town here.

They lived there their whole lives with their parents.

The brothers actually never traveled more than 35 miles from home in their whole life.

So, this is their life.

And they told their story in their clocks.

Every single clock has a theme, it has a meaning.

They're just very interesting.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] The Bily brothers worked for years constructing their works of art.

Inspiration for the different themes came from the numerous journals and books their mother encouraged them to read.

♪♪ [Sharon Kleve] Frank was the carver and Joseph was the, I like to call him the brains behind the outfit.

He's the one who would kind of dream up the themes for these clocks.

And he would come up with a theme and then he would draw it out on a piece of paper and his brother Frank would start carving.

And together they would accomplish exactly what you see at the clocks, the most remarkable things you'll ever see.

(clock chiming) [Kohlsdorf] Today travelers enjoying the hand carved works of art can also enjoy listening to works of art -- ♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] -- in the same place, with an exhibition about the world-famous composer Antonin Dvorak.

♪♪ [Susanna Kraft] Dvorak was living in New York.

He was teaching there.

And he was very homesick one summer.

And his assistant grew up here and so said, hey, why don't you come to Spillville?

Everyone speaks Czech, you would have the food that you're used to.

And so, he came and he just loved it.

[Kohlsdorf] In the summer of 1893, Dvorak wrote some of his most popular works while staying in this small northeast Iowa community.

♪♪ [Susanna Kraft] You never know what you're going to find in rural Iowa and that we have a lot of culture here.

We have art, we have music and that's kind of the message we like people to see.

Oh, they're the Czech culture, this is a heritage that is really important to the area.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Travelers stepping off the byways are sure to find timeless historical treasures along Iowa's countryside.