Sandhills Heritage Museum

06/01/2026

Another display updated today. Kate Dunning Keller wrote the poem “Lost in the Sandhills”. Kate was a daughter of Dunning founder Samual Dunning. On display is her hand sewn wedding dress and a quilt she constructed many years ago. Stop by the museum to read her historic story.

05/31/2026

The museum is open this Sunday afternoon. Stop by to learn about the Your Parks Adventure. Our museum is one of 50 sights across Nebraska to visit for an educational tour. Wonder Nebraska, Nebraska 250 and the Nebraska Game & Parks have joined to make this an exciting and truly fun event throughout the summer. We have the "selfie sign" for you to show that you have indeed, visited our museum.

05/30/2026

We have a new display in progress. An antique New Home treadle sewing machine is on loan at the museum. These two ladies have spent hours bringing it back to what it once was! See how it works in the comments. The goal is to have enough blocks made by volunteers and visitors to make a “friendship quilt “ by summers end.

05/26/2026

Today we remembered the fallen.

05/21/2026

The Iris are blooming at the museum. These plants originated from an old homestead situated between Dunning and Halsey. They were relocated to the museum several years ago. They are thriving. Many of the homesteads had Iris and Lilacs.

05/06/2026

We had some great visitors today... The jr. high students from the Sandhills Public School here in Dunning stopped by. We had a lot of information to share with them. They were very polite and seemed to enjoy the tour of the museum and special interest items outside. The original Sandhills HS Panther really caught their attention!

04/29/2026

Work has started to get the museum inside and outside ready to open for the season. This week Sandhill School students with their teacher Mrs Smith came on Monday to move some items to the container in preparation for new displays inside. They then removed the tires and loaded them from the Machinery Display tank that is being developed outside.
Today the boys came again and pulled weeds inside the tank so dirt can be brought to fill it. A big thank you to Peyton Saner, Alex Martindale, Conner Sutton and Colton Leach!
Our area is blessed to have a younger generation who values where they live and volunteers to help where they can!

04/16/2026

A wonderful donation has been created and donated to our museum.
The Plack reads "Made by SHS Welding Class 2026 in Memory of Chad Carson SHS Class of 1988" The bench was on display during the Sandhills High School FFA Banquet held Tuesday evening, April 14th in the Dunning Community Hall. Chads parents, Dan and Shirley Carson attended the event. Pictured with them is their neighbor and FFA advisor Andrea Petersen-Smith.
The bench sits in front of the museum and will be appreciated by our many guests.
The museum board of directors are thrilled to receive such a thoughtful and lasting gift. Thanks goes to the SHS welding class.

04/06/2026

We have this postcard at the museum and we know Connie. She lives in the Sandhills.

🥩 You Won’t Forget This 1969 Nebraska Image. 🤠
Featuring Connie Blake as Miss Nebraska Stockgrower, this promotion captures a very specific moment in the state’s history — when agriculture, pageantry, and advertising all came together in one bold visual. Nebraska has produced plenty of memorable images over the years, and this is certainly one of them.

What’s your first reaction to this one?

04/04/2026

"Happy Easter" bale art by Karen Swisher at Halsey. We appreciate her creative talent as do the travelers following Hwy 2 east and west.