Gothenburg Historical Museum

06/02/2026

Our museum is a part of ✨WanderNebraska✨

Come see us on the statewide travel adventure program.

https://wandernebraska.com

05/30/2026

Historical Gothenburg Stories for our Swede Second Graders. 📚

05/29/2026

Want to hear stories from some of our most storied citizens? Step inside the Gothenburg Historical Museum. They might just tell you something you never knew about our quaint, little town! ❤️

05/19/2026

HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS
MAY 1891 to 2016
Provided for you by the
Gothenburg Historical Museum

1941 – Union Pacific workmen started on the
installation of crossing gates and signals on the Lake Avenue crossing. The apparatus called for an investment of nearly $10,000.

1956 – Ten thousand special editions of the Pony Express Times, a souvenir newspaper, comes off the presses at The Gothenburg Times. The paper was for free distribution at the Pony Express Station and provided by advertising sold to Gothenburg merchants by Gary Padley, operator of the museum
at the station.

1966 – For the past twenty years, since 1946, the Gothenburg Firing Squad has participated in military services for deceased veterans. Members of the squad include Wynne Norsworthy, Carroll Mannon, Rich Hecox, Billy Cline, Clifford Geiken, Walt Jobman, Fritz Raetz, Jack Soller, John Schlake, Virgil Schulz, Bill Mann, Bob Mann, Dave Mann, Lewis Trimble, Dewy Trimble, and Billy Neel.

1981 – The Gothenburg Chamber of Commerce
sponsored special open houses during the week at four industries in Gothenburg in honor of Industry Recognition Week. Industries included GRN Corporation, Pulz Manufacturing, Boice Crane and Farmland.

1981 – First State Bank officials demonstrated a
microfilm viewing and copier the bank donated to the public library in conjunction with the Gothenburg Historical Society’s efforts to obtain microfilm reels of the old Gothenburg Times and Independent issues.

1981 – Mike Bacon and P. Stephen Potter opened Bacon & Potter, Attorneys at Law. Bacon was the present city attorney, and Potter was the current Dawson County Public Defender.

1996 – A 68-year-old, three generation wholesale distribution business announced it would move its operation from North Platte to Gothenburg. Hipp Wholesale planned to move its operation to the corner of Cottonwood Drive and 4th Street.

1996 – Pony Express rider Joe Keiser carried the
Olympic torch into the 96 Ranch Pony Express
station. The torch was carried along the Pony
Express trail from Julesburg, Colorado to St. Joseph, Missouri by horseback enroute to the summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. (The torch is on display at the Gothenburg Historical Museum.)

1996 – Ground was broken for a new housing facility with sixteen apartments all under one roof for the elderly at 22nd and Avenue H. This facility is called Crestview Senior Housing.

2015 – With the completion of Lake Helen
redevelopment and the lake being empty since early 2013, water is now flowing back into the lake at about 900 gallon per minute. The lake should be full in about 48 days. Ongoing construction includes new sidewalks on the three jetties, parking areas and fishing pier.

2016 – Paving was nearly completed on the street east from Cottonwood Drive to the Gothenburg Improvement Company industrial site on the east side of town. The development included sewer, water mains and a lift station on the site.

05/15/2026

A patchwork of history. Come see our stories through the craftsmanship of quilts. 🧶

“Every patch tells a tale.” - Author Unknown

05/06/2026

Our newest volunteers, Tammy McMichael and Sue Finke, are kicking off our opening season! They said this is a great opportunity to give back and still “do something” in retirement!

04/29/2026

Do you get our Monthly Newsletter? 📰

If you want to know unique historical tidbits about where you live or used to live, message us your email address and we will get you added!

04/23/2026

Everyone is welcome to our open house on Monday April 27 from 1 to 4 pm.

We are just so excited for our upcoming season!
Come to our Open House or sign up to volunteer Monday, April 27 from 1-4 pm.

* Email and Phone Number is provided to contact us if you’d like to volunteer. It’s fun and easy and you get to meet all sorts of new people!

04/23/2026

We are just so excited for our upcoming season!
Come to our Open House or sign up to volunteer Monday, April 27 from 1-4 pm.

* Email and Phone Number is provided to contact us if you’d like to volunteer. It’s fun and easy and you get to meet all sorts of new people!

02/17/2026

HISTORICAL MEMORIES
FEBRUARY 1916 to 2006
For more information about the museum
go to www.gothenburghistory.com

1916 – W. M. Karr opened his new butcher shop in the Peterson Building which had just been completed under the name “The Sanitary Market”. The place looked attractive with its brand-new ice box and fixtures.

1916- Officers were in Gothenburg to inspect Company L, Fifth Infantry. N.N.G. Company L was the only company of the Nebraska National Guards west of Kearney. Seventy-one names were included on the company roll at this time.

1926- Preparations were being made to gravel the state highway between Cozad and Gothenburg with a fleet of ten trucks and a gravel pump at each end.

1949 – The Fifth Army moved into Nebraska to help open Nebraska following the big snowstorm. Livestock damage was very high. The effort was called “Operation Snowbound”.

1949 – Changes were being made to the J.M.
McDonalds Store with a balcony being built across the back of the store.

1956 – Ackerman’s Service Station changed to Mobil products and changed the sign adding the Flying Red Horse.

1956 – Gothenburg’s seventy-one business houses in the retail field had gross sales of $6,913,000. They employed 212 people with wages totaling $584,000. This information was from the Federal Bureau of
Census.

1959 – According to the District Irrigation Specialist for the University of Nebraska, the cost of producing corn on irrigated land in 1958 averaged $57 per acre on 16 demonstration plots located in eleven counties in central
and southwest Nebraska. Yields reported were 100 to 116 bushels of corn per acre.

1960 – Films at the Sun Theatre included Tarzan the Ape Man and The Bat which starred Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead.

1963 – Work had begun on the new Community
Building. The old bleachers had been torn out.

1966 – Admission price for a showing at the Sun
Theatre, managed by Ernie VanWey, was 50 cents.

1981 – Dr. Craig Bartruff opened his new clinic at 10th & Avenue G. The location is now home to the Remedy Clinic.

1996 – S&S Auto Parts moved into its new location at the corner of Lake Avenue and sixth Street. Kim Slack was to manage the new store.

2006 – First State Bank, organized as Citizen’s State Bank on February 10, 1906, celebrated 100 years serving the community. As of June 2024, it is now known as Dayspring Bank.

2006 – Stone Hearth Estates received a First Dollar from the Gothenburg Chamber Ambassadors.

2006 – County Commissioners continued to keep the paving project for the 1.95 miles of road to Wild Horse Golf Club on the one-and-six-year road plan. The paving priority of the road dropped due to the need to resurface the old highway between Cozad and Lexington.

📸 PICTURE from 1941 – A new service station and lunchroom on the south side of the Norsworthy Feed corner at Avenue G and Hwy. 30 was near completion. Owner of Phil’s Café was Phil Gaudreault and George Mann was operator of Mann Service Station.