About

The Museum of the High Plains under the High Plains Historical Society was organized on February 6, 1963 in the home of Mrs. John (Eleanor) T. Harris to preserve the history of Red Willow County and southwest Nebraska. The first displays appeared in store fronts along George Norris Avenue. On February 11, 1969 the exhibits were permanently moved to the historic Carnegie Library when it was purchased from the city of McCook for $300. After a successful fundraising campaign the grand opening of the main building of the Museum of the High Plains was held on November 17, 1985.

The Museum of the High Plains houses over approximately 7,500-10,000 physical objects, approximately 5,000 photos, approximately 1,000-1,500 archives of family histories, scrapbooks and club documentations and 1,000-2,000 published literary works. Each of the objects on exhibit illustrates a unique component of the history of the Red Willow County and Southwest Nebraska region and the individuals who called this area of the country their home. Each item is being cataloged and photographed into a searchable data base.

If you are interested in donating an item to the Museum of the High Plains, please read the policy and procedures outline below.

1. If you would like to donate and object to the Museum of the High Plains collection, please make sure that you first have the legal possession of that object and the legal authority to offer the donation.
2. Please contact the Site Manager at the Museum of the High Plains by either email of phone with any information you may have about the object(s) you would like to donate including photographs, family history or other relevant details. The information that you provide about your object will be beneficial to our staff and will be helpful during the donation process.
3. The Museum of the High Plains Collections Committee meets each month and votes on every object offered for donation to the Museum during the previous month. The objects offered for donation will be accepted or denied based on several factors including but not limited to, the amount of collection storage space, relevance to the museum mission, the necessity of the object to the collection, avoidance of redundancies and the condition of the object(s) being offered.

Contact Information:

Linda Buck – Site Manager – 308-345-3661 – highplainshistorical@gmail.com

Volunteers are always welcome and appreciated at the Museum of the High Plains. Check out this opportunities below:

• Greet guests and direct them to areas of interest.
• Assist with special tours and events.
• Assist with designing temporary and permanent displays and exhibits.
• Assist with scanning photographs and other documents.
• Assist with cleaning and waxing the Prairie Bull on the front lawn, which is done twice a year.
• Assist with planting and weeding the Natural grass area around the Prairie Bull

Host a meeting, formal reception, family gathering or class reunion at our facility.

Let us assist you in planning your next event and creating an occasion that will go down in your history!

For more information, please contact us at 308-345-3661 or email highplainshistorical@gmail.com.