Stuhr Museum, Gem of the Prairie

The circular building at the center of this sprawling museum is itself a work of art. Completed in nineteen sixty-seven and designed by Edward Durell Stone, co-designer of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Stuhr Building anchors the museum.

Beyond the landmark architecture lies Railroad Town, a recreated eighteen-nineties village assembled from original structures moved to the site. Costumed interpreters cook on wood stoves, work in the blacksmith shop, and sell goods in the mercantile, bringing the life of central Nebraska's prairie settlers back to the present. The museum is named for Leo Stuhr, a local farmer and politician whose gift helped launch the museum. It stands as one of the most ambitious living history complexes in the Great Plains.