Nebraska City: Museums, Historic Homes and Nature

Nebraska City brings together places with a rich history of trails, museums and historic homes, along with nature- and Arbor Day-related attractions. When planning your trip, it helps to distinguish between the highlights: the Old Freighters Museum focuses on migration and trail history, while the historic homes show the city’s development from different perspectives. Arbor Day Farm and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center add landscapes and outdoor discoveries to these themes.

Trail History and Historic Homes

The Old Freighters Museum is housed in the original headquarters of Russell, Majors & Waddell. It presents the company’s legacy and the history of migration along the Oregon, California and Mormon Pioneer Trails. As a historic site, the museum is also located on the California National Historic Trail and the Pony Express National Historic Trail. Those interested in trail history will find both the story of the company and a look at the routes associated with migration here.

Several historic homes offer different perspectives. The Taylor-Wessel-Bickel-Nelson House is a museum in a brick house built in 1857. The Wildwood House dates to 1869, has ten rooms and was built in the Gothic Revival style. Tours there are led by docents dressed in Victorian clothing. The Nebraska City Museum of Firefighting and Education Center focuses on the history of Nebraska’s oldest fire department.

The Nelson House also tells the story of the city, this time through the families who lived there: its exhibits show how Nebraska City has changed and developed over time. The Nelson House is open annually from late April through October; tours are available by appointment. If you are planning a tour, keep both conditions in mind and check the arrangements before you arrive.

Arbor Day, Landscapes and Outdoor Discoveries

Arbor Lodge State Historical Park was the original home of the Morton family. The idea for the first Arbor Day originated there in 1872. The park includes an arboretum, an Italian terraced garden, a log cabin, a carriage house and walking trails. These different features give a visit both a historical and a scenic setting.

Arbor Day Farm covers 260 acres in Nebraska City and is described as a place of natural beauty and outdoor exploration. The Tree Adventure includes Treetop Village®: eleven treehouses are spread across three acres and connected by bridges and netted walkways. The numbers and connections between the treehouses give a sense of the scale of this attraction, without equating it with a single viewpoint or building.

The Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center is located on a 79-acre wooded bluff overlooking the Missouri River. Its exhibits cover the flora, fauna and scientific discoveries documented by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The center’s themes connect nature observation with the history of the expedition. Visitors can also walk in Lewis and Clark’s footsteps on the trails at the center.

Fruit and Wine at the Apple Barn

Kimmel Orchard offers the chance to pick fresh fruit right at the farm. The Apple Barn also offers wine tastings featuring fruit wines as well as red and white wines. This gives visitors two distinct activities: picking fruit and sampling different categories of wine. If this part of the destination is important to your plans, you can consider it a separate highlight alongside the museums and historic sites.

A Nearby Destination

Near Nebraska City, visitors can walk through the furnished Mayhew Cabin and its tunnel. The cabin was used as part of the Underground Railroad. The Mayhew Cabin with John Brown's Cave Museum was the first site in Nebraska to be recognized by the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom, in 2003. If you plan to visit the cabin and tunnel, it is advisable to check the arrangements before you arrive.

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