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 a 1890s-era prairie village and made up of many original period structures moved to the museum.
The museum is named after Leo Stuhr, a local farmer and politician whose family were among the area's pioneer settlers. He donated land, money, and numerous artifacts that served as the foundation of the museum. The building that houses the bulk of the museum's exhibits, the Stuhr Building, was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone(who also designed the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
Among the structures in Railroad Town is the house where actor Henry Fonda was born in 1905.Movies filmed at the museum include Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991) and My Antonia (1995). The museum once had a working steam locomotive that traveled the museum grounds.
The Gus Fonner Memorial Rotunda houses beautiful noted collections of Native American and Old West memorabilia formerly belonging to the late August L. “Gus” Fonner, Grand Island civic leader and horseman. These fascinating exhibits reflect the contrasting cultures of the Plains Indians and the early western settlers.
The center of the Fonner Rotunda is reigned by this life-sized sculpture of a Sioux Indian family, titled “The Arrowmaker”.
