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Red Cloud, Nebraska

The Farmers' and Merchants' Bank building, 1889, was erected by Silas Garber, the founder of Red Cloud (1871), the fourth governor of Nebraska (1875-1879), and the prototype for Captain Forrester in A Lost Lady.

The former bank now houses the Willa Cather State Historic Site and is owned by Nebraska State Historical Society. Cather archival materials are located in this building. The building was restored in the late 1950s by the Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial and Educational Foundation. No doubt the "lost lady" herself visited this building many times!

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Grace Episcopal Church

Built in 1884 on the corner of Second and Walnut, the Grace Protestant Episcopal Church was moved to its present location in 1891. The brick veneer was added sometime after 1922. Grace Episcopal Church is the church in which Willa Cather and her parents were confirmed on December 27, 1922

Red Cloud, NE Historic Churches

Chief Red Cloud

Red Cloud, the English name of Makhpiya Luta, the Oglala Sioux chief, and his followers were prominent participants in the Powder River War of 1865 and other subsequent battles. The chief himself was a significant player in the failure of the army's 1865

Red Cloud, NE Famous People

The Methodist Church

[The Methodist Church] The Methodist Church building described in My Antonia , now serves as a Masonic Lodge. Cather tells how, during the winter, the children were starved for color and how they stood in the cold and looked at the stained glass windows: "

Red Cloud, NE Historic Churches

The State Bank Building

The State Bank Building, 1883, with its entrance on the diagonal, is made of native brick and was one of the first brick buildings in Red Cloud.

Red Cloud, NE Historic Buildings

Willa Cather's Childhood Home

World Famous author, Willa Sibert Cather (1873-1947), moved with her family from Virginia to the Red Cloud area in 1883. Nebraska became what Cather later described as "the happiness and the curse of my life". The state'

Red Cloud, NE Famous Homes

Things to do near Red Cloud, NE

Howard County Historical Village

Dr. A. O. Thomas House

Chief Red Cloud

Johnson Lake Camping

Two campgrounds, with both primitive and modern camping facilities, provide access to day-use and overnight visitors. At t...

Civil War Veteran's Memorial, Gazebo Park