Learn about Homestead National Historical Park

Sunset at the Homestead Heritage Center.

NPS Photo/H Hendricks

Millions of Americans including immigrants, women, and formerly enslaved men and women would make the dream of westward expansion a reality for this country. For over a century these settlers would test their grit and endurance in the untamed wilderness and remote frontiers. Homestead National Historical Park, located in Southeast Nebraska, commemorates this Act and the far-reaching effects it had upon the landscape and people.

Visit any time of year to explore exhibits, trails, and events. Learn about operating hours & seasons, fees & passes, permits & reservations, and visiting with pets.

 

Question 1: What year was Homestead National Historical Park established?

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Question: What Year Was Homestead National Historical Park Established?

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Answer: Slide down to reveal

With one stroke of the pen on March 19, ____, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created a new national park on the site of the Daniel Freeman homestead. The following words were included in the legislation:

"...lay out said land in a suitable and enduring manner so that the same may be maintained as an appropriate monument to retain for posterity a proper memorial emblematical of the hardships and the pioneer life through which the early settlers passed in the settlement, cultivation and civilization of the Great West."

In 1971, additional legislation was passed to add the Freeman School, an original one-room prairie schoolhouse, to Homestead National Historical Park. The Freeman School provides visitors an excellent opportunity to see what it was like to be a young student on the Nebraska prairie a century ago.

 

Question 2: Homestead NHP is home to the oldest ____ in the National Park Service.

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Question:  Homestead NHP is home to the oldest ____ in the National Park Service.

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Answer: slide down to reveal

Vast tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America. The ongoing tallgrass prairie restoration at Homestead National Historical Park began in 1939, making it the oldest in the National Park Service. It was decided to restore this area to tallgrass prairie to reduce soil erosion and to provide a visual link to the environment encountered by early settlers. The restoration was accomplished through a combination of seeding a mix of native grasses, installation of native plant plugs, and transplanting sod from local areas of unplowed prairie. 

 

The Living Wall Exhibit shows the amount of land in each states that was settled under the Homestead Act. How many states had land available to claim?

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Question: The living wall exhibit shows the amount of land in each state that was settled under the Homestead Act. How many states had land available to claim?

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Answer: Slide Down to Reveal

As you arrive at Homestead National Historical Park and walk from the parking lot to the Homestead Heritage Center you will pass the "Living Wall," a visual representaiton of the percentage of land in each state that was successfully homesteaded. This land combined totals over 270 million acres of land and equates to about 10 percent of the nation we live in today. 

How many states had land available to claim under the Homestead Act? Hint: you may be living in a Homestead state.

 

The Heritage Center at Homestead National Historical Park is built in the shape of a _____?

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Question: The Heritage Center at Homestead National Historical Park is built in the shape of a _____?

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Answer: Slide down to reveal

The Heritage Center at Homestead National Historical Park, which looks out over the 100 acres of restored prairie, was designed to suggest the shape of a plow breaking the land for farming.

Other symbolic features of the building include the Living Wall, which is a representation of how much land was transferred to citizens from the public domain, and also the north wall inside the lobby, which is constructed to resemble the layers of sod found beneath the prairie.

See these features for yourself on your visit to Homestead National Historical Park!

 

During your visit to Homestead National Historical Park what can you research?

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Question: During your visit to Homestead National Historical Park what records can you access using the research computers?

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Answer: Slide down to reveal

Homestead National Historical Park has multiple research computers available for guests to use for FREE at the Homestead Heritage Center. These computers have access to Ancestry.com, General Land Office records, and Fold 3 databases. They can help you discover if you are descended from a homesteader.

To view an original homestead case file and learn more about the kinds of valuable information that can be found in these records, view the Neve case file.