Durham Museum
The Durham Museum (formerly known as the Durham Western Heritage
Museum) is located at 801 South 10th Street in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The
museum is dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of the United
States' western region. The museum is housed in Omaha's former Union Station.
In 1971 after the establishment of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation
(now Amtrak), Union Pacific Railroad closed Union Station.The station was
donated to the City of Omaha in 1973 and two years later the Western Heritage
Museum opened. The museum closed from 1995 to 1996 for a $22 million renovation
project largely funded by Charles and Margre Durham. For their contributions on
the project, the Western Heritage Museum was renamed the Durham Western Heritage
Museum the following year. On April 6, 2008 the Durham Western Heritage Museum
became the Durham Museum. The change was driven by recent partnerships
Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress and the National Archives which
have provided the museum with a larger range of shows not limited to western
heritage. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affiliations
program.
Union Pacific 1243
According to experts, "Byron Reed was one of the greatest collectors of the 19th
century," with a reputation as a numismatist that is "largely unrecognized."
According to Larry Wilson, a historian and numismatic researcher for the
Independent Coin Grading Service, "The exhibit is an environmental museum where
the visitors walk through a replication of the original Byron Reed Library. The
coins are displayed in beautiful dark wooden cases that give the visitors the
sense they are part of the exhibit. It gave me the feeling I was back in the
1880's sitting in Byron Reed's library examining his coins with him. The exhibit
includes an abundance of historical information on Byron Reed and the times. I
know visitors will be impressed with the quality of the exhibit and the
magnificence of the coins displayed." Donated to the City of Omaha upon Reed's
death, today the collection is housed at the Durham Museum.
Text from Wikipedia
trolley
outdoor movie theater on the model train track
buffet entrance to Union Station
Electric Car
electric car
Trans- Mississippi and International Exposition
model of exposition buildings
Victorian Omaha
Gold dust storage
Omaha's large stock yard
railroads seek settlers
Union Pacific Railroad system
a resident of the Museum, on loan from Chicago
an American Native storage sack
Joslyn Castle
