Pony Express, Sod House, 100th Meridian

When we drove here to Kearney yesterday, we passed through the town of Gothenburg.  Saw that there was a Pony Express Station museum and also a Sod House Museum we could visit.  A little further on our trip we then came across the 100th Meridian Museum in Cozad.  So today we went exploring.

A tidge from home 

Our first stop was to grab a cup of coffee in Kearney then head west bound on the Lincoln Highway, Route 30.  We passed the University of Nebraska at Kearney and that is a big school.  And lots of new construction of buildings for the university.  When we got to Cozad we found the museum and went inside.  The little elder lady manning the museum was born in Cozad, moved away briefly when first married, then moved back.  She knew quite a lot about the town.  So happens the museum is really an historical museum of the history of Cozad and just happens that the 100th Meridian flows right through town.  Kinda cashing in on that fame.  Got us.

Pony Express Station

Originally 2 story

Rules of Riders

From that stop we went further west again to Gothenburg and talked with the museum employee about the Pony Express Station.  This particular building was originally a 2 story structure, cut the bottom off and moved the top story/station to Gothenburg for historical preservation.  One of the few original stations of the 19 months of 1860/1861 the Pony Express was in existence.  

Sod home - original

Sheet to cover ceiling - to capture snakes and bugs!

Two seater

Home, toilet, laundry, transportation - what more do you need?

Made out of barbed wire!  4 miles of it!

Traveled south of Gothenburg and came upon the Sod Museum.  Now this was a hoot!  The woman who was running the show was so knowledgeable and passionate about history of the homesteaders and the beginnings of Nebraska - it really showed.  We could have stayed with her all day and listened to her stories and interpretations of local history.  And I just cringe when I think of all the homesteaders who built a sod home, the creepy crawler bugs and snakes slithering out of the ceiling and dropping down on you.  Yikes.  Also in the yard was a barbed wire replica of a buffalo and of a horse and Indian that the curator's father made.  Interesting.  Looked real from a distance.