Durham Museum facts for kids

The Durham Museum is a cool place to visit in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. It's located at 801 South 10th Street. This museum helps us learn about and keep alive the history of the western part of the United States. What's really neat is that the museum is inside Omaha's old Union Station, which used to be a busy train station!

History of the Museum

How the Museum Started

After 1971, the big train company Union Pacific Railroad closed its Union Station building. A man named John Edward Peterson suggested in a newspaper that the building should become a museum. He thought the city of Omaha or the Joslyn Art Museum should buy it. He even hoped Union Pacific might give it away for free!

Guess what? In 1973, Union Pacific actually donated the station to the City of Omaha. Two years later, in 1975, the Western Heritage Museum opened its doors!

Renovation and Name Change

The museum closed for a short time from 1995 to 1996 for a huge makeover. This project cost $22 million! Most of the money came from Charles and Margre Durham. Because of their amazing help, the museum was renamed the Durham Western Heritage Museum the next year.

On April 6, 2008, the name changed again to simply the Durham Museum. This happened because the museum started working with big partners like the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives. These partnerships brought in many new exhibits and programs that weren't just about western history. The museum is now part of the Smithsonian Affiliations program.

Byron Reed Collection

A Famous Collector's Treasure

Byron Reed was known as one of the greatest collectors in the 1800s. He was especially famous for collecting coins, which is called numismatics. Many people don't even know how amazing his collection was!

A historian named Larry Wilson said that visiting the exhibit feels like stepping back in time. The museum has recreated Byron Reed's original library. The coins are shown in beautiful wooden cases, making you feel like you're right there in the 1880s, looking at coins with Byron Reed himself! The exhibit also shares lots of interesting facts about Byron Reed and what life was like back then.

When Byron Reed passed away, he gave his entire collection to the City of Omaha. Today, you can see this incredible collection at the Durham Museum.

Trish and Dick Davidson Gallery (Track Level)

Trains and More!

The Trish & Dick Davidson Gallery is located on the track level of the museum. It has many cool exhibits about transportation and business.

• Bekins Moving & Storage: You can see a restored 1922 Mack flatbed truck and learn about one of Omaha's important companies.
• Buffett Grocery Store: There's a replica of the original Buffett Grocery Store, which first opened in 1915.
• Drew's Antiques: This area shows some of the best antique items from the museum's own collections.
• O Scale Model Train: Check out a detailed model train layout! It has a train station and a miniature scene that shows what Union Pacific's main train line from Omaha to Ogden looked like in the 1950s.

Real Train Cars on Display

You can also see several real train cars and locomotives up close:

• Union Pacific 1243 Steam Locomotive (from around 1890)
• Union Pacific 25559 Caboose (from 1962)
• Union Pacific 1202 Pullman Sleeper “National Command” (from 1956)
• Southern Pacific 2986 Lounge Car (from 1949)
• Pullman Observation Car “Cornhusker Club” (from 1924)
• Omaha and Council Bluffs Railway and Bridge Company Streetcar: This is a real streetcar that carried people through Omaha's neighborhoods in the 1940s!