Last updated: January 26, 2023
Place
Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
Photo/NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
3133 W US-34, Grand Island, Nebraska
Significance:
A living history museum that lets visitors experience the life of trail travelers and settlers
Designation:
National Register of Historic Places
Amenities
6 listed
Accessible Rooms, Food/Drink - Restaurant/Table Service, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Restroom, Restroom - Accessible
Walk along original wagon swales, visit a Pawnee Indian earth lodge, and explore a “pioneer settlement” that interprets the 1850s-1860s road ranches—the truck stops of yore—that served emigration and freight traffic along the trail. At this living history museum, you'll experience the life of those who travelled the trail years ago.
The Stuhr Museum features an operational 1890s historic town featuring over 100 historic structures. The town has homes, businesses, and the thing that drives it all--a railroad! Additionally, historical interpreters are dressed in 1890s clothes and perform daily activities like baking, making horseshoes, and making hats.
Visit the Stuhr Museum year-round, seven days a week. Open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Admission is charged.
Site Information
Location (3133 W US-34, Grand Island, Nebraska)
The Stuhr Museum is located in South Central Nebraska, approximately 94 miles West of Lincoln. Amid the Midwest plains along the Platte River which guided many emigrants across North America, the museum is near the routes of the overland trails, including the California Trail, Oregon Trail, and Mormon Pioneer Trail.
The main museum building is world-renowned International Architecture Style building sitting in the center of a man-made lake. Numerous parking spaces line the edge of the lake. From the parking area, a wide foot bridge leads visitors across the water to the island where the main building sits. From the parking area, visitors can also walk through a lush, wooded area to ‘Railroad Town, NE’, a living history town featuring over 100 historic buildings and living historians dressed in period clothing.
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