July 18-The Durham Museum, Omaha, NE

 

 

 

The Durham Museum is housed in the former Omaha Union Station that saw its last passenger in 1971.

 

 

The exhibits include thousands of objects related to the history of Omaha and the surrounding region.

The Union Station, opened in 1931, included just about every amenity a passenger could want; a 24-hour restaurant, news and magazine stand, barbershop, taxi stand, telegraph office, hospital, and traveler’s aid office. 

During WWII, American servicemen traveled through Omaha by train. 

The construction of highways and interstates replaced trains as the preferred means of long distance travel leading to the closing of the station.

Today, the station recalls a bygone era of the history.

The Station’s main waiting room is on the Upper Level. 

This is where travelers purchased tickets, checked their baggage and waited for trains to arrive.

 

The Statues in the main hall were crafted by John Labja, an Omaha sculptor.  The symbolize people who would have passed through Union Station. 

The soda fountain buzzed with activity during the station’s busy years. 

 Tobacco products once lined the counter where the candy is today. 

 I ordered an egg cream

 while Monte ordered a butterscotch malt.  Both were delicious.

The Barigth Home and Family Gallery, located on the lower level, shows how families lived in Omaha in the 1800s through the 1950s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Model A Ford-manufactured from 1927-1931

The 1932 Douglas Truck-This Omaha motor company focused

 on building sturdy trucks for hauling livestock.

 

 

Wells Fargo Mud Wagon (c.1870) Muddy and snow covered winter roads stopped heavy stage coaches, but not the lighter mud wagon.  These wagons carried goods, letters and passengers to their destinations.

From 1846-1869, more than 70,000 Mormons traveled 1,300 miles to their new homeland near the Great Salt Lake in Utah Territory in this type of wagon. 

The Mutual of Omaha Theater has a film presentation showing the development of Omaha from the mid 1800s to today.

 

 

The Buffett Grocery Store is an exhibit featuring a replica storefront of the original that opened in 1915.

The Bekins Van & Storage Company exhibit explores the history of an early Omaha family-based business. 

The steam locomotive stations demonstrate some of the technologies steam engines used to help the railroad expand westward.

The Harriman Family Line train car contains the Pullman car, lounge car and caboose. 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the interactive current exhibits featured at the museum is the American Adventure testing if you have what it takes to survive. 

Settlers landed on the shores of Virginia in 1607 creating the first permanent European settlement.  One year later only 38 of the 104 settlers were still alive.

Visitors choose a unique identity of one of the Jamestown colonists and track a series of life choices on a abacus representing life points for health, wealth, food and morale. 

Survival is based on visitor knowledge and ingenuity.

The American Adventure experience reveals the reality of what the settlers faced and how everyday decisions could be a matter of life and death.

Monte survived. 

 

I did not.