Homestead 360

 

Discover Homestead National Historical Park through 360-degree panoramic photos. Click and drag the images to explore!

 

Palmer-Epard Cabin

 

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Palmer-Epard Cabin

The Palmer-Epard cabin was built by George Palmer in 1867 about fourteen miles northeast of the monument. The cabin was brought to the monument because all of the Freeman buildings burnt down or were moved from the site and people wanted to see an authentic homesteading house. The Palmer-Epard cabin is representative of the local construction style of homestead cabins in the late nineteenth century. The building is 14 by 16 feet and has a small attic. At one point this cabin housed 12 people. The cabin is furnished for a family living in the late 1800s. The cabin has become iconic of the park and is featured on the Homestead quarter which was released in February 2015.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Walkway between Heritage Center and Cabin

Walkway between Heritage Center and the historic Palmer-Epard Cabin. The barbed wire fence marks the border of the original Freeman homestead. The fence was specifically designed with a variety of styles of barbed wire to show the range and innovations involved in marking homestead borders.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

Freeman School

 

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Freeman School Interior

The NPS acquired the school in 1967 when the school officially closed its doors. During the 1970s much work was done to restore the school to look similar to what it did in the 1870s. The Freeman School was also used as a polling place and a gathering places for churches, clubs, socials, and debates. In 1899 Daniel Freeman started a court case against the school for teaching Bible passages , praying, and singing hymns in class. This is one of the earlier cases regarding the separation of church and state and was decided in Freeman's favor by the Nebraska Supreme Court in 1902.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Freeman School Exterior

The Freeman School was a one-room schoolhouse in operation from 1872 to 1967. The bricks were made from local clay. The school was officially called District Number 21 and it is unsure whether the name Freeman School came from the school being located near the Freeman homestead or after Thomas Freeman, a local bricklayer.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

Trails

 

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Cub Creek Suspension Bridge

The suspension bridge at Homestead was built in 1961. It was built as part of the Mission 66 initiative to improve visitor centers and infrastructure for the 50th year of the National Park Service. It is a small pedestrian bridge that was created so visitors could safely walk across Cub Creek instead of using the highway bridge or jumping the creek. Some have called this bridge the "Golden Gate of the Prairie."

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Daughters of the American Revolution Monument

In 1909, shortly after Daniel Freeman died, many of the locals and Agnes worked on making the homestead into a monument. The first few attempts failed to gain the national support needed, so the Daughter of the American Revolution created a small monument to the Freeman Homestead in 1925. In 1936 Homestead National Historical Park was born. During the centennial of the Homestead Act the park placed a time capsule near the DAR monument to be opened during the bicentennial in 2062. The marker for the capsule can be seen in the distance behind the monument.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Freeman Graves

Nearby the Heritage Center, on top of the hill overlooking their homestead are Daniel and Agnes Freeman's graves. The small white stones are the grave footstones and the large reddish gravestone was later added to commemorate them.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Prairie Trail near Heritage Center

The restoration of 100 acres tallgrass prairie at Homestead National Monument began in 1939 making it the second oldest restored prairie in the United States. The park decided to restore this area to prairie to reduce soil erosion and provide a visual link to the environment encountered by early settlers. With less than 4% of prairie habitat remaining from its original range, the prairie has become an important resource for maintaining wildlife diversity in the area.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Grain Growers Highway Trail

Homestead is located near the edge of where the Great Plains begin and forested areas disappear. This is one reasons this land was perfect for homesteading. The prairie land provided good farming soil, the forest provided timber, and the creek running through the forest provided a constant source of water. Additionally a highway went through the Freeman homestead which connected them to the cities of Beatrice and Plymouth called the Grain Growers Highway.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Woodland Trail

The forest which occurs along Cub Creek is called a lowland bur oak forest. This type of forest is relatively rare in Nebraska. The forest is where all of the Freeman structures were location. Unfortunately most of the structures burnt down and the last house on the property was moved when it became a national monument. Freeman Brick house site and the site of the squatter who lived on the land before Freeman homesteaded have both been examined by archaeologists. The sites are not marked to prevent people from intentionally disturbing them.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

Heritage Center

 

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Heritage Center Exterior

The Heritage Center was built in 2007 to house the growing museum collection and create a modern facility to tell the story of homesteading. The Living wall is a visual representation of the percentage of land that was homesteaded in each state. Homesteading occurred in 30 of the 50 states. Looking at the wall you can see that the states west of the Mississippi River have much more land homesteaded since very little land was already in private ownership in 1862.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Heritage Center Lobby

The Heritage Center lobby provides the visitor with a panoramic view of the prairie as the homesteaders would have seen it. A ranger will greet you and tell you about the history of the Homestead Act and what you can do at the park. To your right is the theater which shows the film "Land of Dreams." Further to your right is the bookstore and computers where you can look at records on Ancestry, Fold3, and General Land Office records free of charge to help you learn about your own family heritage.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Heritage Center Exhibits

Downstairs is the museum with exhibits showcasing different aspects of Homesteading life. The museum exhibits feature: farming innovations, cooking equipment, school life, land ownership issues with the native tribes, oral histories of homestead life, the first and last homesteader, and the success or failure of homesteads. You can also look though the window to see how items are stored in the museum collection storage room.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

Education Center

 

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Education Center Lobby

A ranger greets you to tell you more about the story of the Homestead Act and what you can do at the Education Center and the Freeman School located down the road. The mural in Education Center lobby is titled "Homesteaders' Sod House" by Gene Roncka. This mural was created in 1962 when the building opened to commemorate the life of a homesteading family. The Education Center hosts many events, speakers and traveling exhibits as well and providing a space for education on-site and through distance learning.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Education Center Courtyard

Behind the Education Center is a grassy courtyard often used for special events. Under the overhang are historic farm tools on exhibit.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Education Center Entrance/Parking Lot

The Education Center was built as part of the Mission 66 initiative to create and improve visitor centers for the 50th year of the National Park Service. This building was completed in 1962 just in time to commemorate the centennial of the Homestead Act of 1962. The green banners located around the building commemorate some of the well known descendants of Homesteaders.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann

 

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Farm Implement Wing

The Farm Implement Wing and courtyard showcase some of the tools needed to homestead throughout the 123 years homesteading was in effect from planting with a hand seeder to harvesting with a John Deere grain binder. Three short videos will show you reenactments of how these implements worked.

NPS Photo/Amy Neumann