How to Rock a Year

The history of Hamilton County is reaching more people in more places than ever before.

2017 was a great year for us. Events, school tours, community outreach programs, workshops, home school programs, research projects, new exhibits and new national partnerships kept the staff and volunteers hopping. Over 4,200 people visited the museum in 2017, an increase of 20% over the previous year and 36% over the two previous years!

The focus of the museum, as set out in the mission statement by those who had a hand in building it, is the time from 1860 (homesteading years) to 1950. The Plainsman Museum preserves, collects, illustrates and works to establish the history of Hamilton County, Nebraska through education, exhibits, research and maintenance of relevant archives and collections.

We want to give an HUGE shout out to our fantastic volunteers, who perform functions as varied as tour guide, collection archival, woodworking, exhibit building, photo cataloging, inventory of artifacts, school tour programs, manning the Ag building, and fundraising.

Tour Guides: Roberta Cool, Bruce Ramsour, Marlin Seeman, Linda Ohlson, Bev Tollefsen, Marcia Spiehs, Bonnie Kruse, Claire Frevert, Lynne Nylander.

Exhibit Building: Don Schaffert, Larry Bengtson, Bob Cool, Dale Hoegh, Gary Bayne, Richard Gustafson, Walt Jacobs, Bob Jorgensen, Jim Davenport, and Val Oswald.

Collections: Lynne Nylander, Berniece Luthy, Ali Atkins, Carol Alloway, Lynn Arends, Sherry Edwards, Loretta Bykirk, JoAnne Beins, Nick Irons, Nicholas Miller, Amber Mikkelsen.

For people from near and far, we have assisted with those looking for their family histories - they walk in, mail in, email, call and even message through our website. We provided area businesses, organizations and individuals with access to our photo archive to help with the Nebraska 150 mural project.

Our exhibits have grown, too! Exhibits include the new Barbed Wire

Collection donated by the Blue Family, the brand new Elarton Studio

photography exhibit, a remodeling of the Drug Store, Bank and Saloon, spectacular lighting updates to the main building exhibits and fresh landscaping at the General Delevan Bates house.

We installed a new sign out front and new, accessible front doors.

Now all you have to do to keep up with all our events is drive by, although if you poke around the web site you are currently reading this article on, you'll see we've improved virtually, too!

The 2017 Board of Directors have worked together to move us forward into 2018. L-R: Linda Ohlson, Betty Van Luchene, Gary Ross, Brenda Klawonn, Stephen Knudsen, Tessa Burgener, Paula Johnson, Dick Kliewer, Eric Lohrmeyer. Not pictured: Glenn Spiehs, Jay Schulze, Therese Runion.