The Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer is a museum located in Grand Island, Nebraska

Grand Island, Nebraska

Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 48,520 at the 2010 census.Grand Island is home to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center which is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state,...

 dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Pioneers who settled the plains of central Nebraska in the late 19th century. It features a living history

Living history

Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to reenact a specific event in history, living history is...

 village called Railroad Town, designed to evoke a 1890s-era prairie village and made up of many original period structures moved to the museum.

The museum is named after Leo Stuhr, a local farmer and politician whose family were among the area's pioneer settlers. He donated land, money, and numerous artifacts that served as the foundation of the museum. The building that houses the bulk of the museum's exhibits, the Stuhr Building, was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone

Edward Durell Stone

Edward Durell Stone was a twentieth century American architect who worked primarily in the Modernist style.-Early life:...

 and was built by Geer-Melkus Construction Co., Inc.

Geer-Melkus Construction Co., Inc.

Geer-Melkus Construction Co., Inc. was a commercial construction company located in Grand Island, Nebraska. The company was founded in 1893 and was in existence until 1986....

Among the structures in Railroad Town is the house where actor Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda

Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...

 was born in 1905. Movies filmed at the museum include Sarah, Plain and Tall

Sarah, Plain and Tall (film)

Sarah, Plain and Tall is a television film in the Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology series that was released in 1991. It is the first of three installments in the film adaptation of Patricia MacLachlan's novel of the same name.-Plot summary:...

 (1991) and My Antonia

My Antonia (film)

My Antonia is a 1995 film TV movie based on the novel of the same name written by Willa Cather. The movie was directed by Joseph Sargent and starred Jason Robards, Eva Marie Saint, and Neil Patrick Harris. It was filmed in part at the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island, Nebraska.-Cast:*Jason Robards ......

 (1995). The museum once had a working steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

that traveled the museum grounds.