We have a free day today in Grand Island. We can do nothing, or we can choose to see some of the local attractions…
But, first, we wanted to add one more sticker to our map of states we have pulled the Villa through. Welcome, Nebraska!
For our local excursion today we visited the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, located right here in Grand Island. It is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Pioneers who settled the plains of central Nebraska in the late 19th century. It features a living history village called Railroad Town, designed to evoke an 1890s-era prairie village and made up of many original period structures moved to the museum. The main museum building, shown below, was designed by the renowned modernist architect Edward Durell Stone. The museum is named after Leo Stuhr, a local farmer and politician whose family were among the area’s pioneer settlers. He donated land, money, and numerous artifacts that served as the foundation of the museum.
Among the structures in Railroad Town is the house where actor Henry Fonda was born in 1905. Movies filmed at the museum include Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991) and My Antonia (1995).
The Stuhr Building is located, of course, on an island…
We toured the main exhibit space that had, predictably, artifacts and photographs of the pioneer period of the late 1800s and early 1900s… Very interesting exhibits, and a very beautiful building… I generally dislike museums, but this one was clearly an exception.
After the museum we walked around the grounds. First up are the ruts of the Overland Trail. In this part of the country the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, and the Mormon Trail all shared this general road. Contrary to popular movies and TV shows, the wagons did not travel single file. They generally spread out over a 1-1/2 mile wide swath of land…
There is a Pawnee Lodge – a dirt-covered structure used by several families as living quarters…
The perimeter is lined with beds, and holes in the floor were used for food storage. As many as 30-50 people lived in this space. (It is about 38′ in diameter…)
This view of the prairie grass here represents what the area would have looked like as the pioneers traveled through. It is about 3′-4′ tall… The wagon trails just passed through. But when the farmers arrived, imagine what it must have been like to plow this land!
The Pioneer village contains several buildings from around 1890 – 1910. These buildings have been donated by local families and moved onto the property. Interestingly, as we drive through the countryside, we see buildings like this that are still occupied and being used.
Over in Railroad Town there are more buildings that have been moved here. This is a 5 block town, complete with railroad depot, blacksmith shop, livery stable, and many houses and stores.
We had noticed that the adjacent stretch of highway 30 through Grand Island is called, “Henry Fonda Memorial Parkway”.. We Googled to see why and found that he had been born here in Grand Island. Here in Railroad Town is his birthplace home:
The Fonda family moved away when he was about one year old, so it is doubtful that he remembered the house, but he did visit here after it was moved onto the museum ground and restored…
After we toured Railroad Town we checked out the log cabins…
We returned to the Villa. This evening we have a pot-luck dinner and a Drivers Meeting, where tomorrow’s travel plans are discussed. Finally we had our first GAM – a Get-Acquainted-Meeting; we were host tonight. Four other couples joined us and we introduced ourselves to each other. These are usually a lot of fun.
An enjoyable time was had by all…
Adventures in the Villa 