Organization: |
Wessels Living History Farm |
Established: | 2005 |
Physical Location/Address: | 5520 S. Lincoln Ave. |
City: | York |
County: | York |
Hours: | 10am- 4pm |
Organization’s email: | [email protected] |
Organization’s Phone: | (402) 710-0682 |
Link to website or Social Media: | www.livinghistoryfarm.org or www.facebook.com/livinghistoryfarm/ |
Events or exhibits relating to Nebraska’s 150: | Living History Days July 15 & 16 is our official NE 150 Event! |
Description: | We are a living history museum, a farm set in the 1920s. We are the result of the vision of a York area farmer, Dave Wessels, who wanted to teach children about the history and progression of agriculture, and life on a Nebraska farm. Our museum is on the ground that Dave left for the museum, and we have his many antique tractors on display, with many other machines and farm equipment that we have collected from others.
The farm now consists of the 1917 house, which Dave lived in as an adult, moved to the site from its original location in York. There is a granary, horse barn, poultry house, cob house, tank house next to the Dempster windmill, and the building full of antique tractors, stationary engines and more. We have added the 1905 rural church, the pre-1900 one room school house, and will have a new 4000sq ft. building in a few months, to house more tractors and farm equipment. We are focused on education, as Dave wished. Our website is an award-winning educational resource for farming and related historical information. The website is currently undergoing a redesign, which will launch in late March/early April. We provide educational classes, with schools from as far as two hours away joining us on our little farm. We have also become a popular venue, for family reunions, weddings and more. Our first official day of the 2017 season is May 2nd. We will be open Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm and Sun 1pm- 4pm through September, and again in December for Christmas on the Farm. Special tours, events, and rentals are available year-round. We have several events scheduled for this year, all listed on our Facebook page, and eventually to be found on our new website! We are nearly completely wheelchair accessible, with modern restrooms in three locations. We pride ourselves in offering a lot of hands-on activities, and something for everyone. When our guests visit, they are guests at our family farm, not visitors of a typical museum- things are not behind glass or barricades. Climb up on the tractors, feed treats to the miniature barn animals, pick a few tomatoes from our garden, or sit on the front porch and sip lemonade! We’ll pop you some popcorn on the wood stove, or get the lawn games out for you to play. Life is always better on the farm! |