1893 Farmstead: Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer

Welcome to Stuhr Museum!

Stuhr Museum's 1893 Farmstead, including the Cleary Farmhouse; Brasee Family Summer Kitchen; Graham-Pickett Family, Principal Financial Group Foundation, Inc. Red Barn; Eakes Family, Windolph Family, City of Grand Island Hired Man's House; rural Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church; and rural schoolhouse, along with outbuildings, interpret a small, struggling "inland" community that was missed by the railroad, known as Runelsburg.

The Cleary Farmhouse, originally the home of Julius and Lena Kroll and family, was settled on 160 acres and was originally located southwest of what is now Prosser, Nebraska. Julius had emigrated from Germany in his late teens, and Lena was born in Germany as well. They married in 1882, and before the big farmhouse was completed in 1893, they set up house in a tiny frame structure.

Graham-Pickett Family, Principal Financial Group Foundation, Inc. Red Barn
Mrs. Fran Jacobitz, a granddaughter born after Julius' death, has heard that her grandfather was "firm and stern". When he assigned a chore, it was wise to carry it out expeditiously! The original Kroll home place was not Julius' only farm; he saw to it that each of his five children received a farm.

The Eakes Family, Windolph Family, City of Grand Island Hired Man's House, moved to its present location in 2000, came to the museum originally in July of 1965. The core of the house, a 2-room cottonwood log cabin, was built in 1859 by Fred Vatje, who was among the group of first settlers to Hall county. His first cabin had burnt down, and this was his reconstruction.

The historic Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church originally came from Hampton, Nebraska, as a Danish Lutheran Church. The 'little white church', neatly trimmed in jade green, is nestled on the south end of the museum grounds, along the Wood River and framed against the sylvan background of Hall County Park. Built in 1888, the church stands symbolic of the thousands of rural churches that once peppered the great plains. Used not only for Sunday morning services, church bells could also toll for Sunday school, Bible study, mid-week prayer meetings, funerals and weddings. In addition, these churches became the focal point of organized social life, emphasis on family participation: sewing circles, Ladies Aid, missionary societies, picnics, ice cream socials, oyster suppers, hayrack rides, skating parties, temperance rallies, and fund-raising fairs and festivals.

The one-room Rural Schoolhouse is sure to bring back memories. Once located near Gibbon, Nebraska, the little white schoolhouse holds 33 wood-and-cast iron school desks of various sizes with folding seats and inkwells in the upper right corner of the writing surface. The school also contains a potbelly stove, along with a blackboard at the front, complete with a paddle near the teacher's desk.

The rural Church and rural school are open with barrier viewing May 1 through September 30 and are completely open during Christmas Past & Present. The church is also fully open on Memorial Day.
The 1893 Farm is an educational complex and exterior viewing is welcome. The Farm is open during the Cowboy's Life and Christmas Past & Present events.

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Stuhr Building