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An outing to Pioneer Village museum just the ticket for inquisitive kids
by Betty Sayers

My twin nine-year old granddaughters and I were trying to decide among the endless options of things to do on a dreary, gray, March day in central Nebraska. The ideas tumbled out in a rush of excited voices: We can make a pizza from scratch, do an art class in the basement, play cards, make a book out of our stories, buy things for our baby chicks project, do a science experiment — something messy and gooey — and then one said, “Grandma, let’s go to the Pioneer Village tomorrow. We’ve seen it. We haven’t been there, and we’ve always wanted to go.”

A plan took form — first breakfast at the Cozy Inn in Holdrege where the cocoa tastes the sweetest, and a chocolate chip pancake breakfast is awarded five stars in their list of best eating places. After breakfast, we’ll embark on our excursion to Minden and the Pioneer Village.

The Pioneer Museum appeals to young children. Their minds quickly understand the order of the exhibits — how things commonly used today transitioned from the simple, handmade and horse powered to complex, machine made, and steam or gas powered.

My girls examined the Pioneer Village horse-drawn bread delivery, milk delivery and ice delivery wagons in turn, and then the gypsy wagon in its all its colorful and hand carved glory, noting its resemblance to a camper or what they call a “house car” of current times.

They climbed into the train and looked over the steam engine and the caboose. They saw how a steam powered thresher worked, and noticed early designs of water craft, but the remnant of history that most amazed the nine-year old mind was the circa 1900 telephone. To ring it, one cranked the handle, and the other answered at a wall hung phone across the room. We compared my cell phone to the wall hung early telephones and they were duly impressed with the technical advancements.

Pioneer Museum advertises itself as the only “Museum of Progress” in the U.S., with displays of 50,000 items in their respective order of development. Their founder, Harold Warp, a Minden entrepreneur, honored the pioneer forbearers of rural Nebraska with his collection antique autos, tractors, an authentic town village, musical instruments, motorcycles, crafts from the past including demonstrations of spinning, weaving and broom making, and so much more. The buildings are spacious, clean and handicapped accessible. A restaurant, campground, and motel are located on the museum grounds.

Even if you don’t have nine-year-olds to point out what’s really interesting and important, a trip to Pioneer Village is an ideal adventure for a dreary day.

Pioneer Village
138 E US Highway 6
Minden, NE 68959
(308) 832-2750
Toll-free: (800) 445-4447

Betty Sayers is a co-founder of Nebraska Rural Living. She lives in Holdrege, NE. Read more about her on the 'About Us' page.

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