Located in Minden, Nebraska, the Harold Warp Pioneer Village is a 28-building museum complex displaying a collection of more than 50,000 items connected to the early American frontier life of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Pioneer Village was the vision of Harold Warp, an American businessman best known as the inventor of Flex-O-Glass plastic.
History
Born on a farm near the city of Minden, Warp was the youngest child of 12 of Norwegian immigrants and was orphaned by the age of 11. Along with two of his brothers, Warp developed Flex-O-Glass, a material used for the development of plastic windows, and moved to Chicago in 1924 to patent the invention. After founding the Warp Bros company, Warp’s product line expanded to the development of several other plastic products, which earned him a number of business industry awards, including the 1979 Horatio Alger Award and the 1984 Distinguished Nebraskalander Award. In 1953, Warp purchased a number of extant historic buildings in Minden and opened the Pioneer Village complex as an effort to preserve the culture of American prairie life.
Permanent Attractions
Today, the Pioneer Village complex operates as a private nonprofit educational organization under the supervision of the Harold Warp Pioneer Village Foundation. 28 buildings are housed within the Pioneer Village complex, which is located on a 20-acre plot of land along United States Highway 6 and arranged around a central village green area. More than 50,000 historic items are contained within the museum’s collections, including more than 350 antique automobiles and a variety of pioneer artworks and technologies spanning from 1830 through the present.
The Village’s Main Building serves as a central museum facility, housing a chronological collection of more than 10,000 artifacts, showcasing the history and development of a variety of technologies associated with frontier life, including transportation, building, and military advances. Notable holdings include the 1876 Otto, the first internal combustion engine, and the 1942 P59, the first jet airplane. Exhibits within the building also highlight pioneer art and sculpture.
A number of preserved historic buildings have been relocated to the Village from areas throughout Nebraska and the Great Plains, including Elm Creek Fort, the first log cabin built in Webster County, which served as a fortress for community residents during an 1869 attack by indigenous tribes. The Lowell Depot, which served as the western terminus for the B&M Railroad from 1872 to 1882, showcases two antique locomotives and a narrow gauge caboose, and a preserved one-room Country School from the late 19th century displays original desks, textbooks, and Warp’s personal collection of perfect school attendance certificates. The Bloomington Land Office, relocated from Franklin County, holds a collection of early maps and land records, and an 1884 Church, the first constructed in the Minden area, holds nondenominational services on Sunday mornings during the summer months. Other reconstructed historic buildings include a Pony Express Station, which displays an authentic Buffalo Bill saddle, and a Horse Barn relocated from the Warp homestead.
Replicas of pioneer-era buildings are also displayed, including a People’s General Store modeled after a merchandise store from Stamford, Nebraska, which displays original post office boxes from Fort Kearney. An authentically recreated Sod House is furnished with period-appropriate items such as a trundle bed and skatol, and a two-story Livery Stable recreation showcases a complete harness shop. A recreated Blacksmith Shop also showcases an original Eli Whitney turning lathe and produces items for sale during the summer months.
Several buildings house specific collections of pioneer technologies, including a Fire House which showcases the chronology of pioneer-era and modern firefighting technologies. A 22,400-square-foot Antique Car Building houses more than 100 historic automobiles by major American car companies, including displays of historic Chevrolets, Fords, Buicks, Cadillacs, Chryslers, and Oldsmobiles. Home technologies are showcased in the Homes and Shops Building, the Home Appliance Building, the Hobby House, and the China House. Other buildings showcase Antique Farm Machinery, Antique Tractors and Trucks, and Steam Tractors. A historic Merry-Go-Round offers rides for a nickel, and a Diner sells old-fashioned sandwiches, ice cream, and snacks during summer months.
Ongoing Programs and Events
Group admission rates are offered for groups and organizations of 15 or more visitors, including tour opportunities for elementary and secondary school students. Multiple day admission tickets are also available, with accommodations available at the complex’s 44-room Pioneer Village Motel and adjoining campground facility. Traditional crafting and trade demonstrations are held daily during summer months at the Homes and Shops Building, including weaving, yarn spinning, and broom making demonstrations. Annual public special events include a Sandhill Crane Migration Watching in March and April, a Bandfest competition for area high school marching bands, and a Christmas Traditions Festival featuring a tour of historic homes, a pop-up art gallery, a kids’ carnival, and a 5K run.
138 US-6, Minden, NE 68959, Phone: 308-832-1181
Harold Warp Pioneer Village
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