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Kearney, Nebraska

The Buffalo County Historical Society/Trails and Rails Museum traces the history of transportation through Buffalo County on a site where the Mormon Trail once passed. Displays include a Union Pacific steam engine, an 1898 depot, 1898 church, 1880s Freighters' Hotel, an 1871 school house, and archives of the area. The Museum also house rare photos, diaries, letters, and other archival records used by researchers all over the world. More land has been acquired to the west which will allow the complex to almost double in size.

The museum building is the Union Pacific depot, moved from Shelton on the east of Buffalo County. The waiting room and ticket office have been restored to appear as they did when the depot was in use. The baggage room has been converted into an exhibit room showing the history of wagon, train and auto transportation in and through Buffalo County.

* District No. 1 School House - Pioneers traveling on the Mormon Trail Freighters Hotel settled in eastern Buffalo County. They organized the county's first school district and , in 1871, built this school. It was the first frame schoolhouse to be completed in the county. * Loup River Freighters Hotel - This house was built in the 1880s to provide freight wagon drivers a place to stay over night when taking supplies from Kearney to Broken Bow. * Log Cabin - The cabin of the 1860-1870 period on the museum grounds is a fine interpretive exhibit of a structure "like" the one at Post South Loup Fork, and will provide a place to show and tell local history. * 1898 Church - The German-Baptist Mission church which was established in Kearney in 1898 is now a part of the complex. * Boyd Ranch House - This house was the first frame house in Buffalo County. It was built in the late 1850s when it was part of the J.E. Boyd Trail Ranch on the Wood River near Gibbon. The ranch furnished supplies to travelers on the Platte Valley Overland Trails.

The Museum also hosts many special events including the Annual Wagons West Day in June and a Christmas Tree Walk in December.

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Cookbooks by Morris Press

You'll find thousands of hometown cookbooks from all 50 states when you visit the nation's largest publishers of fund-raising organizational and family cookbooks.

Kearney, NE Outlets

Museum of Nebraska Art

The Museum of Nebraska Art houses the state's only collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints created solely by Nebraskans or artists concerned with Nebraska as the subject. Enjoy quality invitational and traveling exhibits as well as creative exhibits of the museum'

Kearney, NE Museums

John Barnd House

The John Barnd House, located in Kearney, is a large two-and-one-half-story frame dwelling built about 1892, and a good example of the Queen Anne style. Barnd came to Kearney in 1874, established a law practice, and later was elected Buffalo County judge for two terms. In 1888

Kearney, NE Historic Buildings

Historical Fort Kearny State Park

In its 23

Kearney, NE Historic Forts

Dr. A. O. Thomas House

The Thomas House was designed by Nebraska architect George A. Berlinghof in 1906 in the Neo-Classical Revival style. Dr. A. O. Thomas, a native of Illinois, was the first president of the Kearney State Normal School, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Kearney, NE Historic Buildings

Things to do near Kearney, NE

World's First Flying Doctor

Franklin Country Club

Mowry Bluff Historic Site

National Historic Register - Mowry Bluff is a small Upper Republican Phase hamlet occupied during the twelfth century ...

Franklin City Park

Research Room, Furnas County Genealogical Society