Minden, Nebraska

If you should travel across Nebraska on I-80 you will pass through Kearney, which is only 12 miles north of Minden, the home of Pioneer Village Museum. If do as we have done for many years, you will sail past with the comment that "one day we will stop to see that!" Late May of 2004 brought that "one day" to us. Now we wonder why it took us so long. The museum complex also has a motel, RV park and restaurant. So it is a very convenient place to visit, which is well since Minden is a pretty small town. The RV park is just "OK," but you get one free admission to the museum with the price of a night there. For the other person it will cost just $9, which is very reasonable and they will give you a second days entry free if you wish. And it will take two days to really see everything.

This is the main entrance to the museum complex. The buildings are arranged around a central green. Many of the buildings are historic.

The museum is actually a complex of about 20 acres and 28 different buildings. All mechanical items displayed are in operating condition, and some are powered electrically to demonstrate how they worked. The first building alone houses more than 10,000 different items. If you see this in one day it will be a long day!

There is a room full of different buggies and carriages. The next room is filled with the early horseless carriages. This gypsy wagon from the thirty's is also on display. This is a page from an early Sears Roebuck catalog when they sold a car.

We spent several hours in the first building and then took a quick look at all of the other buildings, returning later to spend more time in each depending upon our interest in what was there. In some cases we went separate ways. 

There is a steam powered carousal which operates on weekends and busy periods. There are many tractors from long ago. I chose this picture as it was the same as my grandfathers first tractor. This is the largest collection of antique farm machinery that this farm boy has ever seen.

The larger exhibits are in Quonset type buildings with two floor levels of displays. There are more than 350 cars and more than 100 trucks.

There is a car displayed that was converted to use as a tractor, using a kit that was for sale in those days. There are two floors of pick-up trucks. The second floor of the building has large trucks.

If you enjoy looking at old cars and trucks, two days will probably not be enough. There are two buildings full of cars, each with two floors.

This is one floor of cars. There are three more. This early, home built, motorhome is displayed. All items in it work. One of the earliest luxeury travel trailors.

You can also visit the website for this attraction at www.pioneervillage.org

There are some very early aircraft and even a few early helicoptors. There are two floors of pick-ups displayed in order of development. This is a