Pioneer Village (Nebraska)

Last updated
Pioneer Village
Harold Warp Pioneer Village, Minden, Nebraska LCCN2017708657.tif
Pioneer Village's Highway Sign (2016)
USA Nebraska location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Nebraska
Established1953
Location138 E US Highway 6,
Minden, Nebraska 68959,
United States
Coordinates 40°30′17″N98°57′02″W / 40.50472°N 98.95056°W / 40.50472; -98.95056 (Pioneer Village)
Type Pioneer Museum
Website pioneervillage.com

Pioneer Village is a museum and tourist attraction along U.S. Highway 6 in Minden, Nebraska, United States, featured in many roadside and historical attraction guides. [1] It is made up of a collection of 50,000 historical objects and 28 historical buildings. [2] Its location in Minden has been a boon to the city since its opening in 1953, through to the present day. [3]

Contents

History

Inception

The Pioneer Village was founded in 1953 by Harold Warp, a Chicago manufacturer of Flex-O-Glass, a plastic film. He returned to his home town of Minden to find that the city had put the one-room school house he attended as a child up for auction. He purchased the building in 1953, and placed it on the future museum grounds. [4] This began the collection of historical buildings, technology, and art that would come to represent his recollection of the history of man's progress. [2] [5]

The Warp Family

Pioneer Village has been continuously family operated. In 1983, Harold Warp donated the museum to the nonprofit Harold Warp Pioneer Village Foundation. [6] After Harold Warp's death in 1994, Skip Warp took over, but because he lived in Chicago, he often wasn't involved with the museum's upkeep. [6] Since Skip's death, Harold's grandchildren have taken over. They have deaccessioned objects to raise income for restorations on the main and outer buildings. [7]

In 2011 the tax exemption on the motel and campground attached to the museum was brought into question by the Nebraska state tax commissioner. When the commissioner's position was upheld, the Pioneer Village Foundation appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. The decision was reversed. [8]

Collections

The museum comprises a complex of 28 buildings on 20 acres (81,000 m2) with a total collection of over 50,000 items. [1] The museum's collection spans Americana from 1830 to the present. The objects comprise a distinctly eclectic sensibility. Warp, who is responsible for the vast majority of the collection, purchased anything, across North America, that represented the daily use of American technology. This includes, but is not limited to, early cars (more than 350 are on display) and airplanes; a Wurlitzer Caliola; tractors and other farm implements; appliances (televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, mechanical banks, pencils, etc.); and an art collection that features William Henry Jackson paintings and a set of John Rogers plaster sculptures. [3] Objects are in chronological order of development within a type. The buildings that house the collections are mostly from Nebraska, and they are set up to loosely resemble a village, organized around a central green. They are similarly heterogeneous, including a supposed Pony Express station, school house, church, sod house, and 24 others, including a steam powered carousel. [7] [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska</span> U.S. state

Nebraska is a triply landlocked state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwest; and Wyoming to the west. Nebraska is the 16th largest state by land area, with just over 77,220 square miles (200,000 km2). With a population of over 1.9 million, it is the 37th most populous state and the 7th least densely populated. Its capital is Lincoln, and its most populous city is Omaha, which is on the Missouri River. Nebraska was admitted into the United States in 1867, two years after the end of the American Civil War. The Nebraska Legislature is unlike any other American legislature in that it is unicameral, and its members are elected without any official reference to political party affiliation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omaha, Nebraska</span> Largest city in Nebraska, United States

Omaha is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about 10 mi (15 km) north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 40th-most populous city, Omaha had a population of 486,051 as of the 2020 census. It is the anchor of the eight-county Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, which extends into Iowa and is the 58th-largest metro area in the United States, with a population of 967,604. Furthermore, the greater Omaha–Council Bluffs–Fremont combined statistical area had 1,004,771 residents in 2020. Omaha is ranked as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, which in 2020 gave it "sufficiency" status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hastings, Nebraska</span> City in and county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States

Hastings is a city and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 25,152 at the 2020 census, making it the 8th most populous city in Nebraska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minden, Nebraska</span> City in Nebraska, United States

Minden is a city in Kearney County, Nebraska, United States. The city serves as the county seat of Kearney County. The population was 3,118 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Pioneer Village museum complex of 28 buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joslyn Art Museum</span> Art museum in Nebraska, United States

The Joslyn Art Museum is a fine arts museum in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It opened in 1931 at the initiative of Sarah H. Joslyn, in memory of her husband, businessman George A. Joslyn. Since its opening there have been multiple building expansions to house the museum's growing collection. It is the only museum in Nebraska with a comprehensive permanent collection. Some of the main works in the museum are part of the nineteenth and twentieth-century collections of American and European artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of Nebraska-related articles</span>

The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. State of Nebraska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Platte River Road Archway Monument</span>

The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument is a monument on Interstate 80 located three miles (4.8 km) east of Kearney, Nebraska, United States. Opened in July 2000, it houses a historical experience that tells the story of Nebraska and the Platte River Valley in the development of America. The monument spans more than 300 feet (91 m) above Interstate 80 and is accessible via two numbered exits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mari Sandoz</span> American novelist

Mari Susette Sandoz was a Nebraska novelist, biographer, lecturer, and teacher. She became one of the West's foremost writers, and wrote extensively about pioneer life and the Plains Indians.

Harold Warp was an American businessman who invented Flex-O-Glass. He also founded Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska.

Florence is a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska, United States on the city's north end and originally one of the oldest cities in Nebraska. It was incorporated by the Nebraska Territorial Legislature on March 10, 1857. The site of Winter Quarters for Mormon migrants traveling west, it has the oldest cemetery for people of European descent and oldest standing gristmill in Nebraska. Florence was the site of an illegal territorial legislature in 1858. Given the high concentration of National Register of Historic Places in the neighborhood, it is regarded as "the historic front door to Omaha as well as the state."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuhr Museum</span> Museum in Grand Island, Nebraska, USA

The Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer is a museum located in Grand Island, Nebraska 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durham Museum, Omaha, Nebraska</span>

The Durham Museum is located at 801 South 10th Street in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The museum is dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of the United States' western region. The museum is housed in Omaha's former Union Station.

John Latenser Sr. (1858–1936) was an American architect whose influential public works in Omaha, Nebraska, numbered in the dozens. His original name was Johann Laternser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Omaha, Nebraska</span> Industry in Omaha, Nebraska

Tourism in Omaha, Nebraska, United States offers visitors history, sports, nature and cultural experiences. Its principal tourist attractions are the Henry Doorly Zoo and the College World Series (CWS). A 2003 study by a Creighton University economist estimated that the CWS added $33.8 million to the city's economy that year. With 1.1 million visitors annually, the Henry Doorly Zoo is Nebraska's most popular tourist attraction. In 2007 Omaha hosted the USA Roller Sports National Championships, along with 10,000 people who auditioned for the American Idol television show at Qwest Center Omaha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redick Tower</span> United States historic place

The Redick Tower, operated since 2011 as The Hotel Deco, is an 11-story building located at 1504 Harney Street in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linoma Beach</span> United States historic place

Linoma Beach, now doing business under the name Linoma Lighthouse, is a privately owned recreation area developed around an artificial lake in Sarpy County in the eastern part of the state of Nebraska, in the Midwestern United States. The site was opened in 1924; in 1939, a 100-foot (30 m) lighthouse was added to it. The lighthouse is a conspicuous landmark on U.S. Highway 6 between Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History is located in Hastings, Nebraska. It claims to be the largest municipal museum between Chicago and Denver. It is housed in a building funded by the Works Progress Administration and dedicated on June 15, 1939. The museum exhibits include Kool-Aid, natural history dioramas, local history, weapons, life of pioneers on the Plains, rocks, minerals, fossils, antique vehicles, coins, and a planetarium.

References

  1. 1 2 Exploring Nebraska Highways: Trip Trivia. Exploring America's Highway. 2007. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-9744358-7-9.
  2. 1 2 "Watch American Pickers Season 24 Episode 4 | HISTORY Channel". The HISTORY Channel. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  3. 1 2 "Time takes toll on Pioneer Village history museum". Omaha World-Herald. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Home". Pioneer Village - Minden, NE. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  5. ↑ Warp, Harold. A History of Man's Progress, From 1830 to the Present; a Complete and Historical Description in Chronological Order of Items on Display at the Harold Warp Pioneer Village. ISBN   978-1013734656.
  6. 1 2 writer, Joe Duggan / World-Herald staff (2013-12-08). "Time takes toll on Pioneer Village history museum". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  7. 1 2 "Watch American Pickers Season 24 Episode 4 | HISTORY Channel". The HISTORY Channel. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  8. ↑ "Court of Appeals of Kentucky. Daviess County Court, Appellant, v. A. G. Howard et. al., Appellees" . The American Law Register. 25 (7): 428. 2013. doi:10.2307/3304194. ISSN   1558-3813.
  9. ↑ "Home". Pioneer Village - Minden, NE. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  10. ↑ "Nebraska Prairie Museum". Archived from the original on 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.