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Red Cloud, Nebraska

The Willa Cather Foundation proudly hosts town and country tours where visitors can view the childhood home of Willa Cather as well as experience other historic buildings related to her life and writing.

Town tours are available daily and country tours are available by appointment. Visitors can choose between a 3-building town tour (lasting about 45 minutes) and a 7-building town tour (lasting about 90 minutes). The country tour highlights 21 historic sites and covers approximately 60 miles of the surrounding countryside.

Visitors may schedule a guided tour of the country sites by contacting the Willa Cather Foundation, or purchase a detailed map for a self-guided experience. Virtual tours are available online.

Tours leave from the Cather Bookstore, located in the historic Red Cloud Opera House in downtown Red Cloud. Please call for more information or to schedule a guided country tour.

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

The Red Cloud Opera House

The Red Cloud Opera House, 1885, stood for many years as the jewel in Main Street's crown. Here Blind Boone played, William Jennings Bryan spoke, and it was from this stage that Willa Cather graduated in 1890 and delivered her eloquent oration, "Superstition vs. Investigation"

Red Cloud, NE Historic Buildings

Willa Cather State Historic Site

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.

Red Cloud, NE Historic Sites

Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial

The Art Gallery and Bookstore, located two doors south of the Cather Historical Center on main street, carries the country's most complete selection of Willa Cather's novels, short stories, biographies, and critical works about her.

Red Cloud, NE Memorials

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

Things to do near Red Cloud, NE

Plum Creek Massacre Site

After camping just two miles south and east of where the Plum Creek emptied into the Platte River on August 7, 1864, the Mort...

The State Bank Building

Stuhr Museum

Historical Markers

McCook Army Air Base - McCook Army Air Base, activated April 1, 1943, was one of 11 Army Air Force training bases in ...

McCook Community College

McCook Community College, Nebraska's oldest two-year college, occupies an attractive eight-building campus in the northeast r...