The Archway Museum

Today’s adventure was the triggered by reading an article listing the best museum in every state. It was pretty cool that we’ve visited around a dozen of these gems but even cooler that we were but a few miles from Nebraska’s entry, The Archway Museum at Kearney (CAR-nee), Nebraska. Actually, if you travel I-80 through Nebraska, you will not only pass it, you will drive under this imposing structure that arches over the interstate! This amazing museum that opened in 2000 employs state of the art technology that with the use of technology allows every visitor to use an audio wand to customize their audio tour as they are immersed in a full sized replica of various stages of transportation across the Great Plains beginning with bison herds and ox carts on the Oregon Trail. We witnessed the arrival of a Pony Express rider and the expansion of the Union Pacific Railroad as part of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. In the 20th Century the Lincoln Highway became America’s Main Street providing the opportunity for automobile tourism and ultimately the interstate highway system and the internet. It’s an immersive experience telling a story that is just beginning, the story of freedom and of the American pioneer spirit. It immersed us in history in a way that no textbook could every accomplish but also in a history that we personally remember, and a history that we are now living.