Thursday, June 11, 1987
Exploring Nebraska roe
By Chris McCubbin
Staff Reporter
Every now and then almost everybody
becomes a tourist. Every so often some
deep, mysterious psychological urge
forces people to go to, stare at, and
make appreciative noises about a
pasture that 150 years ago was used as
a battlefield or a particularly significant
. tree.
To most people Nebraska is not
exactly vacation heaven. Some say it
suffers from a decided lack of scenic
vistas. Oh, there's Chimney Rock, of
course, but that's a long way off. There
is a "eriain subtle glamor to be found
in the sandhills, or standing on the
edge of the Platte Valley, but nothing
near the Grand CanyonNiagaraSwiss
Alps class.
Consequently most Nebraska tourist
attractions focus on the state's history.
Here are a few tourist attractions
within a day's drive of Lincoln.
Stuhr Museum of the Prairie
Pioneer, Grand Island, 96 miles west
on 1-80, contains an extensive and
elegant collection of pioneer artifacts.
Behind the main building is a recon
structed 19th century railroad town
(containing the birthplace of the late
Henry Fonda).
Although administered by the Hall
County government, the Stuhr Museum
is like no other county museum in the
country. Good Housekeeping magazine
rated it as one of the 10 best living
history museums in the United States.
The museum is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
seven days a week in the summer.
Adult admission is $5.
Pioneer Village, Minden, 135
miles west on 1-80.
"Not a tourist trap!" proclaims one
of the three or four thousand billboards
advertising Harold Warp's Pioneer
Village. And it's not.
Pioneer Village is a museum along
the same lines as the Stuhr. Not as
elegant, but even more extensive. The
Pioneer Village brochure defines it as
"the only museum of progress in the
U.S."
It includes displays on the evolution
of lighting, the evolution of flight, the
evolution of music, the evolution of the
bicycle, the evolution of farm machin
ery, the evolution of the snowmobile . . .
Pioneer Village is open from 8 a.m. to
sundown, 7 days a week. Adult admis
sion is $4.
Willa Gather Historical Cen
ter, Red Cloud, 136 miles southwest.
For a more low-key historical adven
ture, visit Red Cloud, the hometown of
Willa Cather. In addition to a Cather
museum and archives, the Willa Cather
Historical Center includes the Cather
House, Cather's church, Grace Epis
copal, St. Juliana Falconieri Catholic
Church, featured in Cather's novel "My
Antonia," and the Burlington Depot,
which doubles as an art gallery. There's
also the 610-acre Willa Cather Memorial
Prairie.
Adult admission is $1, hours are 8
a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. weekdays,
and 1 to 5 p.m. during weekends in
summer. Tours are given at 9:30 a.m.
and 1:30 p.m.
Homestead National Monu
ment, Beatrice, 40 miles south on
Hwy. 77.
When the Homestead Act of 1861
went into effect, Daniel Freeman was
there just after midnight on the first
day to file his claim. Now this eager
beaver's homestead has been made
into a national monument.
The monument features an authentic
prairie cabin, the Freeman School, a
one-room schoolhouse that operated
from 1872 to 1966, and a restored tall
grass prairie.
Open 8:30 to 5 p.m. every day.
Admission is free.
Arbor Lodge, Nebraska City, 51
miles southeast on Hwy. 2.
The tum-of-the-century mansion of J.
Sterling Morton, originator of Arbor
Day. Besides the 52-room mansion,
Arbor Lodge features an estate-wide
arboretum with over 25 varieties of
trees and shrubs.
Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer.
Adult admission is $1.50.
For more information on Nebraska
tourist attractions call 800-228-4307.
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