1128 Elm Street
Fairbury, Ne (2 Blocks South of Hwy 136)
(402) 671-6879
Email Fairbury City Museum

Winter Hours:
Saturdays
1 pm - 4 pm
Other times by appointment

The mission of the Fairbury City Museum is to preserve, display and promote the history of Fairbury, Nebraska as well as Jefferson County. The Fairbury City Museum has a very impressive inventory of period items that have been donated by friends and families of the community. The Fairbury City Museum, once housed in a tiny store front on the west side of the downtown square, has found a new home in a former elementary school building at 12th & Elm Streets, just two blocks south of Hwy 136, Nebraska’s Heritage Highway.

The former elementary school building is comprised of several rooms, each containing stationary exhibits showcasing Fairbury's history, people, businesses and events. The grounds around the school building also provide for larger, outdoor exhibits of buildings, machinery and equipment.

School and Group tours are welcome anytime. Please call or (402) 729-3707 for more information or to schedule tours. Email inquiries may be sent to Fairbury City Museum.

Fairbury City Museum Plans 2012 Events

Members of the Fairbury City Museum Board of Directors met on Thursday, October 13 for a 2012 planning meeting to discuss monthly features and events for next year. According to curator Art Korte, “We want to organize events as far in advance as possible to give adults, parents and children who want to visit the museum time to plan.”

Beginning in March of 2012, the Fairbury City Museum will once again promote monthly features and host special events at the Museum, which is located at 1128 Elm Street, two blocks south of Highway 136, Nebraska’s Heritage Highway. The museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1 – 4 p.m.

Proposed features and events include the following:

March – Art Show at the Museum, featuring the works of local artists, including members of the Jefferson County Art Guild
April – Quilt Show/Fiber Art Exhibition, featuring quilts from local collectors and demonstrations of various sewing, weaving and needle-art techniques
May – Ladies Tea and Vintage Fashion Show
June – Antique Tractor Show on the grounds
July – American Flags, Architectural Elements Contest Kick-Off
August – Car Show on the grounds
September – 9/11 Tribute to First Responders, announce winner of Architectural Elements Contest
October – Pioneer Farm Life Living History Demonstrations
November – Civil War Encampment
December – Christmas Traditions

In Other News…

Over 150 visitors came to the Fairbury City Museum on Sunday, October 9th for the living history demonstrations, featuring Dutch oven cooking and laundry by Megan (Katz) Smallcomb and blacksmithing by Dan Stanton and Bruce Junker, members of the Prairie Blacksmiths Association. Upcoming events for November and December are also being planned.

Fairbury City Museum Announces November Feature, Program

“Honoring Our Military” is the theme for November at the Fairbury City Museum. A special program featuring living history demonstrations, plus flag and military uniform displays is scheduled for Sunday, November 13th from 1 – 4 p.m.  Visitors to the museum will have an opportunity to learn about our country’s military history, in honor of Veteran’s Day.

Fairbury native and Fairbury City Museum volunteer Megan (Katz) Smallcomb will be creating displays featuring military uniforms spanning our country’s military history including the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm and the War in Afghanistan. There will also be a display of American flags representing different periods in our Nation’s history.

Also on the schedule for Sunday is a living history demonstration by Civil War re-enactors who will be camping on the museum grounds. Visitors will get to see and learn about how Civil War soldiers set up camp and braved the elements. They will be conducting live gun firing demonstrations and talking about life as a soldier in the 1860s, the same time period that Fairbury was platted as a town.

“Veterans Day is an opportunity to honor our military and remember those who have served our country and the living history demonstrations scheduled for Sunday will be excellent teaching tools, especially for children,” according to Smallcomb. “Spending the afternoon at the museum with your children is a great family activity,” she added.

Fairbury City Museum Announces
October Feature, Program

“Pioneer Farm Life” is the theme for month of October at the Fairbury City Museum. A special program featuring living history demonstrations was held Sunday, October 9th from 1 – 4 p.m.  Over 100 visitors to the museum will had an opportunity to learn about various aspects of life as an early settler on a farm in Jefferson County in the 1860s, the time period that Fairbury was platted as a town.

Fairbury native and Fairbury City Museum volunteer Megan (Katz) Smallcomb presented a program demonstrating the techniques and tools pioneer women used to perform the essential chores of cooking and laundry. Dressed in authentic period clothing, Smallcomb gave demonstrations on Dutch oven cooking, including building a fire, preparing food and the use of essential items to prepare a meal. The laundry demonstration focused on the entire process from building a fire to boil water, washing of garments using homemade lye soap, and creating a makeshift clothesline to hang the clothes to dry.

Also on the schedule for the program were demonstrations by the Prairie Blacksmiths Association. Members Dan Stanton and Bruce Junker of Fairbury taught visitors about the vital role blacksmiths played early pioneer communities. They demonstrated the techniques used by the early blacksmiths as they use fire and basic tools to forge metal into useful tools. The ability to create and repair tools, hardware, utensils and decorative ironwork was a necessary element in every field of the human endeavor and essential to pioneer life on the farm.

“As harvest begins, we are reminded of our agricultural heritage in the Fairbury area. By hosting living history demonstrations about pioneer life in rural Nebraska, we hope to give visitors a glimpse of what everyday life was like for the early settlers in our area. Living history is an excellent teaching tool, especially for children, and fosters an appreciation for how difficult life was for those who came and settled here,” according to Smallcomb.

In addition to program events, the museum features tools, farm implements and a barbed wire collection all on display both inside the museum and outside in the red barn. Program attendees enjoyed refreshments, courtesy of museum board members. “Spending the afternoon at the museum is a great family activity and the living history demonstrations will be fun for the kids,” according to curator, Art Korte.

In other news:  Attendance at the Fairbury City Museum for the month of August was up 227% over last year. The Board of Directors welcomed new board member, Mick Suey of Fairbury. Upcoming events for November and December are also being planned.

The Fairbury City Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and is located at 1128 Elm Street, just two blocks off Highway 136, Nebraska’s Heritage Highway.

Fairbury City Museum Pays Tribute To First Responders

September 2011 – It was a beautiful sunny day this past Saturday afternoon as more than 75 visitors attended a special program at the Fairbury City Museum honoring those who served and lost their lives during the September 11th terrorist attacks, ten years ago.

Law enforcement, fire and medical response personnel, along with citizens, parents and children participated in a short program which included a prayer by former Police Chief Brooks Bryan, the singing of the National Anthem by Dick Schlichtman and a demonstration featuring Ringo the Drug Dog by handler, John Davis of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.

Also on display were patrol cars from Jefferson County Law Enforcement Center, emergency response equipment from Ambulance District #33 and the ladder truck from the Fairbury Fire Dept.  Kids were given a chance to climb aboard, blare the sirens, and try on the protective gear worn by fire fighters.  According to Fire Chief Eric Voss, ”We love the opportunity to teach kids about the important role that first responders play in keeping our community safe. We hope that demonstrations like this will inspire kids to want to serve their community when they grow up.”

Refreshments were served as attendees toured the museum and viewed the many artifacts on display recalling various periods in Fairbury’s history.  For some it was their first trip to the museum. “This is my first time to the museum and I am just amazed by all the wonderful things in here,” said Kim Allen of Fairbury. “I would love to know more about Fairbury’s history and plan to spend more time here.”

Upcoming events will feature an agricultural theme in October with living history and blacksmithing demonstrations in the barn and on the museum grounds. The Fairbury City Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Fairbury City Museum Announces Summer Feature and Contest

“Architectural Elements” - the beautiful and unique details that can be found on Fairbury’s oldest buildings are the subject of Fairbury City Museum’s focus for the months of July and August. For the remainder of the  summer tourism season, there will be special emphasis on Fairbury’s downtown historic district and the various architectural styles employed by builders during downtown Fairbury’s various stages of growth and prosperity. The largest amount of construction in the historic district took place between 1900 and 1929.

The Fairbury Commercial Historic District encompasses an area spanning approximately ten blocks and 117 properties. Virtually every street within the boundaries of the historic district are paved with brick, circa 1916. The district is distinguished by the prominent courthouse square, where the architecturally and historically significant Jefferson County Courthouse sits. The oldest buildings in the district are located around the courthouse square and the commercial center of Fairbury revolves around the courthouse. Many of the commercial buildings in the Fairbury Commercial Historic District are extremely intact. They exhibit high physical integrity and retain their original form and ornamentation, particularly in the upper stories. These historic buildings are still occupied by businesses and as a result, a bustle of activity continues to occur around the courthouse square.

The Fairbury Commercial Historic District represents a span of architectural periods ranging from the oldest extant, late nineteenth century building displaying false-front construction through turn-of-the-century high styles, to more modem influenced properties. The buildings in the district represent architectural development trends typical of Nebraska commercial centers. Fine representatives of Italianate, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, Late Gothic Revival, Neo-Classical Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, and twentieth century commercial vernacular architectural styles and forms are located within the district.

To celebrate Fairbury’s beautiful architecture and to raise awareness of the unique elements present in various buildings around the square and in the district, the Fairbury City Museum will be sponsoring a contest in which citizens can view photographs of architectural details and match them to the buildings to which they belong.

The grand prize winner will be receive a prize package containing a selection of gift items, coupons and certificates from businesses located in the historic district valued at over $300.

Click Here to play.

Architectural Elements Contest Winner Announced
Congratulations to Eleanor Harling of
Fairbury, Nebraska

“Architectural Elements” - the beautiful and unique details that can be found on Fairbury’s oldest buildings were the subject of Fairbury City Museum’s focus for the months of July and August. To celebrate Fairbury’s beautiful architecture and to raise awareness of the unique elements present in various buildings around the square and in the district, the Fairbury City Museum sponsored a contest in which citizens could view photographs of architectural details and match them to the buildings to which they belong.

Twenty-four photos were included in the contest and a drawing was held on Saturday, September 10th at the Fairbury City Museum. Eleanor Harling of Fairbury was the winner of a prize package worth more than $300, including a night’s stay at Fairbury Executive Suites, breakfast for two at Griffey’s Steakhouse, gift baskets from Stagecoach Mall and Sims Florist, a pictorial history book courtesy of the Fairbury Chamber of Commerce, a spa treatment from Pure Serenite Spa & Salon and a water pillow courtesy of Tatro Chiropractic.

More than 30 entries were received, eight from out of state, including Colorado, Kansas and California. “We received so many positive comments from families who played the game with their kids, it was challenging and a lot of fun – we hope to do another contest next summer,” according to Julie Katz, Fairbury City Museum board member.

Even though the contest is over, you can still play the game. Click Here to play.