Fort Kearney Museum - (308) 234-5200

Not to be confused with the actual Fort Kearny stockade and visitor's center on the south side of the Platte near the Fort Kearny campgrounds, the Fort Kearney Museum is a small, privately owned museum open during the summer on South Central Avenue in Kearney. Although not large, this museum is packed with an amazing amount of unusual and even bizarre artifacts -- many donated or collected by world travelers from around the turn of the century. Among many excellent artifacts from plains history -- including Native American weapons and clothing, pioneer relics and photos, you will also find a plethora of taxidermy from around the world -- including zebras, moose, and buffalo -- and tons of items from every corner of the globe -- from Japanese samurai equipment to Egyptian mummies to totem poles. A local Kearney family still owns and operates this museum, which has an eclectic, retro feel to it -- the labels are sometimes hard to read and there is a sort of random feel to the org

This museum does not really compare to some of the other museums in the area. There's nothing really wrong with it, it just doesn't stand out of have anything really special about it. The Ft Kearney story is pretty mediocre. But it is a pretty outdoor location and has great campling in the area. So many people liek it for that.