Ok. Where to begin. Dont ask why i went through here. No korean or asian has any business in…read morecentral nebraska lol. My journey through Nebraska was unpleasant. The glares, stumbles and terrible hospitality. When i reached here i expected to be treated like trash since everyone else did so. The museum had two curators and the older one warmed up after an hour. The younger was supeer nice and i wanted to hug her and say thank you. Almost made my grown ass cry. The museum has all the old shabangs. Mostly of prairie life from the settlers' perspective. Limited artifacts from native tribes. They had makeshift pharmacies, schools, bars, etc and a photo exhibit from over 100 years ago with the original gear used. Looking at the prints, the quality from the famous photographer (Mr. Solomon Butcher) was perfect. We couldnt keep up with homeboy's skills with all our technology. The craziest exhibit was the historical society. They have names of every damn man and women in Custer County!!! If your white with ancestral roots from this region, this center will most likely have documents, possibly original documents like homestead title deeds, marriage certs, birth records (remember no hospitals), school records and sooooo much more. When i visited there were random people, old people, lookinf for their great grannies!!! That puts it at close to post civil war era! Crazy stuff folks... I tried talking to locals but thhey werent having yet. I spoke with two people here, both work here. Polite and knowledgable. Amazing. Broken bow is fairly large with couple other museums like the Creation Geology nearby. Check it out! I wanted to go to cemetary (common for historians) but construction made it inconvenient. Wanna know how old school broken bow is??? They paved the roads on the main drag where u park to walk here... in Summer of 2016.

From the owner: Experience history in Custer County, Nebraskaread more

Situated on the eastern approach to the "pre-railroad" town of Broken Bow, this beautiful Visitor's…read morecenter is housed in an authentic old barn, surrounded by gardens and a short information pathway. The facility has a neat, modern parking lot, picnic table outside, and a visitors information desk and local museum inside. The information signs throughout highlight the ecology and geography of the region. It's a scenic stop.. complete with a farm windmill. The barn is newly painted, but is an authentic old barn. Downstairs you'll find a beautiful railroad exhibit, an exhibit on the telegraph, and a barbed wire collection. Upstairs, there is a museum exhibit, but for me the exposed detail of the barn roof stole the show! Another highlight was the delightfully nice lady at the information desk... she has so much knowledge of the area, and was really kind to invite us to bring our two dogs inside, so it was a rare treat when traveling with the dogs to have both my wife and I go inside at the same time! She even offered water for the dogs. This visitor's center is a must-see if you're traveling the Scenic Byway.

I don't always have a good explanation for how I end up in places like this, but I ended up here…read moreand that's what really matters. It's the first pony express station/office or whatever. So I'm wondering when the first letter got dropped off where was it going to go. To the 2nd pony express location? Who knows? I did not find out the answer to that on my visit here. I pulled up and the place was closed. But 2 super cool little old ladies were stopping by to unlock it because one had locked her keys inside. As a result of their kindness I was given a brief tour of the inside of the place. It's like a lot of old buildings. Storied, rustic, low ceilings and basically made entirely of wood. Some brochures, some gift shop items (I got a magnet woop), and something tells me that there's never a long line to get in. It's not far from the interstate, and it's kind of situated in a calm and relaxing park so I mean, yeah...all good things. Stop by if you're passing through. Get a magnet. That's what I did. You should do it too.

Very interesting! I learned so much about the Pony Express & what those young riders went through…read moreto get mail delivered. The woman inside was friendly, helpful & very knowledgeable. Well worth the stop.

Stopped at the coffee shop across the street for my husband's meeting. My baby and I went to check…read morethis museum out! Super cool sad house, recreation and cool little gift shop with homemade gifts and two sweet nice ladies working what more could you want?

Very interesting! Seeing a real sod house spoke volumes of the ingenuity & hardships of the people…read morein that era. And the women in the museum were personable, helpful & informational. I'm glad we stopped.

So I have a thing for roadside oddities and while driving through brown flat Nebraska I spotted…read morethis blinking helicopter off the side of the highway that appears to be on the grounds of the Heartland Museum. I am no military history expert or super fan but we stop in mainly for a bathroom break. I tell you what, I am a big fan now. The very friendly lady at the front desk greeted me and asked me to sign the guestbook. She explained that it was free admission and they take donations. I asked about the "fall from saigon" (it looks like the last scene from Ms. Saigon) exhibit outside and they encouraged us to drive right on their grass to get to it (it was a half mile away, and it was a hot day). Even better as I walked through the museum they encouraged me to touch things. Like missiles. I guess I am too used to the formality of Smithsonian Institutions. When they found out we also had our dog with us, they encouraged us to bring her in, even though I warned them that she was in a wheelchair and part Tasmanian devil in it. They didn't care. I would say this place is a good stop on a road trip. My one regret is not having cash on me for the donation.

Great place to stop off 80 if you need a place to stretch your legs rest your eyes and still learn…read moreso much about our history! They have very cool things in here and recommend the stop. We were there around noon to 1

The city of Broken Bow is located in Custer County, Nebraska (Basically right in the middle)…read more The town is small but has lights and stuff. Paved roads with slow speed limits. The main drag is on E Street (East/West) between 7th and 9th Streets (North/South). This where the city hall, town square/park and county museum is located. It's crazy how the park square is filled with women w/ babies and stuff chatting with each other. The main drag also has bunch of restaurants and bars. What's there to do in Broken Bow? Jack Sh*t~!!! Sarcasm aside. The main attractions are: 1. Custer County Historical Society & Museum, and the 2. Boneyard Creation Museum. Throughout the town are remnants of Solomon Butcher (photographer). Other than that, this place has a lot of sh*t as in fertilizer. The economy is based on cattle so it smells like it too. For the most part, I just drove through cause when am i ever going to be in central nebraska again. I mean if i have to go to omaha, im flying! since omaha isn't that special either. Food sucks here. Just beef and beer. Safe travelings peeps.

Citizens of Broken Bow allowed a feed lot to be constructed very close to the town, and as a…read moreresult, the downtown square where we were staying at the Arrow hotel smells strongly of cow feces. The flies have also noticed the smell and they are completely out of control.

We were visiting North Platte on the way to Denver and checked Yelp, TA, and Atlas Obscura for…read morethings to do and see and this place had some great reviews and comments. Plenty of parking, and a little bit off the main drag, so it was not too crowded. The girl at the front desk was very helpful and took the AAA discount. When I went to purchase some gifts there was a YELP Discount offer which she had not seen that before, she ended up giving it to us, but I think she didn't know how to ring it up in her system. I should have brought my camera, but at least I got some pictures with my cell phone. Some great views of the trains nearby and the surrounding area. There is a lot of information about trains, history, WWII, and the area. A neat place to visit in North Platte for sure. There is a fee to get in but you get to see everything inside and you can take an elevator to go to 2 different observation levels, which have a lot more information and history, and offer 2 different vantage points. There is also a train car outside on the ground level, as wells as a small wooden train, and a bunch of state flags with some interesting facts on the base of each flag.

Everyone at this tower was super friendly. All of the employees were nice and informative about…read moreeverything there. We only paid $10 for our ticket to go up the tower and it was a very pretty view. They told us that we could come back all day with the ticket so if we wanted to get food and come back and picnic there we could! The view from the tower was really nice and the tickets they gave us was like a train ticket so it's really cute. A very good stop!

Three words......."take the tour." Having Doris tell the stories of early Cozad and the journals…read moreand art of Robert Henri (Cozad) was well worth the $10 admission. The museum rooms and furnishings had excellent narrative but Doris was the story teller for us on our tour. Pointing out highlights and their relationship to Robert Henri and the facts behind the family name change. The gallery includes many original paintings and sketches and is carefully locked and supervised. This museum was a hidden gem that we missed on our last Nebraska Passport visit to Cozad. Although the tour put us behind on our trek across western Nebraska, you won't find us complaining. If in Cozad, or even remotely close by, three words.......go meet Doris!

I'll admit that the only thing about this museum that I experience was the basement, which to most…read morepeople is the most interesting part. What I'm talking about is the history of Kool Aid! Kool Aid is a brand we don't hear very much about anymore, unless we're talking about cults. But the town of Hastings does take pride that the founder of Kool Aid is from there. There is a huge detailed display about the evolution of Kool Aid, and its very cool to learn about. Remember the Kool Aid toys and collectibles we all grew up with, regardless of generation? They're all there. And you can also watch a montage of classic Kool Aid commercials while there. There's a statue of the Kool Aid Man outside the museum as well. I feel really bad that I didn't check out other parts of the museum (I think there are 3 floors...) as it talks about the natural history as well as the agriculture and cultural part of the town. But maybe for another time....

OK, this museum is a lot of fun. There is a lot to do for families of all ages and groups of all…read moresizes. We got there and came in and we're looking at the animal exhibits when someone mentioned that a planetarium show was about to start about black holes, so we went inside and my cousin and I both adults and three young children under 10 took our seats and really enjoyed the approximately 20 minute presentation on black holes, looking up at the ceiling in the projection and it was a lot of fun. There are multiple types of exhibits in the museum, including a really cool area celebrating Kool-Aid. Because apparently Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings, Nebraska. Who knew?! There is a antique car exhibit in the basement area as well and a Lego section that is interactive, and the whole experience was really nice. The bathrooms near the Lego exhibit were clean. We used the elevator to go between floors because my cousin has lots of small children in a rolling stroller/cart, and there's a little gift shop with fun things to view and purchase and I would definitely recommend if you're in the Hastings area. You spend some time here..

What a great collection they have. I'm glad we were able to stop, but wish we had more time to see…read moreeverything- this place is huge!!

If you would like an extraordinary museum where you can learn about central Nebraska and see an…read moreastonishing collection of everything from arrowheads to tractors...this is the place!!! Having been to the Smithsonian American History museum in Washington DC i was completely impressed by this mini version of that venerable institution here in Holdrege. The professional quality and thoughtful exhibits need several hours, or more than one visit to fully enjoy the detail and history. I also stopped in their genealogy room which is fantastic if you have local ancestors to learn about!