What a neat little place! I used to live in Old Town Bellevue many years ago, and I drove by this museum every day to and from work. I always thought it might be interesting to check it out some day... and I finally did 10 years after moving farther away. I thought it would be a quick little stop to do with my (homeschooling) 12 year old. Probably be in and out in half hour, 45 minutes. I admit that I was preparing to fend of the, "I'm bored"' and, "can we leave now?" comments.
Upon walking in, we were happily greeted by a husband and wife team, and invited right in to check stuff out. I'm sorry that I can't remember their names, because they were wonderful right from the start. The gentleman ended up walking around with us for most of our walk around, giving us more background history on the items there, and stories about how the pieces were acquired, or about the people who had owned them. He was clearly passionate about the history of Sarpy County, and the local area. He excitedly showed us the collections of historic film negatives he had saved and was preserving, and the collection of historic newspapers that were being digitally preserved. When I mentioned our interest in trains, he took us out for a tour of the Union Pacific Caboose our beside the main building, and told us all kinds great stuff about it, and how it came to the museum. Unfortunately, we had an appointment to get to, so we didn't have time for the tour of the Train Depot that was offered. We will definitely be returning for that. Best part of the day? My son never told me he was bored, never asked to leave, and even admitted that it was "pretty cool". That's impressive for a 12 year old who'd rather be playing video games to doing just about anything.
All in all, this is a gem of a little museum, right in Old Town Bellevue that gets overlooked way too much by us locals. It's staffed by volunteers who love what they're doing, and love saving our history. Please go check it out! read more