Washington County Nebraska Museum

Our story begins with William Henry Woods, affectionately known by the locals as “Granddad.” A Civil War veteran, he settled in Fort Calhoun in the late 1800’s and began collecting and displaying artifacts he excavated on and around his property. Woods excavated many pre-historic fossils and Native American tools from hills and gullies of Fort Calhoun. Story has it that he would pay local children a dime to bring him treasures.

He scoured the site of old Fort Atkinson, home to the Sixth Infantry from 1819-1827, and the largest military post of its day, unearthing military buttons, buckles, locks, hooks, horseshoes, plows and other relics of early military life. It was a dream of Mr. Woods to have a museum preserving the memory of Fort Atkinson and the early pioneers and settlers of Washington County. Until that dream would be actualized, Wood’s home served as the first museum.

Today, the Washington County Museum strives to be the keeper of our county’s history.  We endeavor to bring the stories of our past to life in new and engaging ways, through exhibits about the First Council meeting between Lewis & Clark and the Otoe-Missouria tribes, relics of Fort Atkinson, archaeological finds, and stories of our pioneer families and the towns they built. We desire to preserve our family stories for future generations, and tell them in ways that engage and involve children and adults alike.