By Denise Poss

When I was a teenager, my sister and I would occasionally "play tourist" in our hometown of Colorado Springs. Money was often tight, but Michele and I could usually find something fun and inexpensive to do if we had some time on our hands.
For the past six years, my husband Roger and I have called North Platte "home." We bought a house, settled in, and I've even managed to find work as a writer. We had visited a few of the larger local attractions, such as Buffalo Bill Cody's house, the 21st Century Veteran's Memorial, and, of course, Cody Park, but we hadn't really spent too much time checking out the other attractions in our "new" hometown. Until recently, that is…

With $10 dollars in our pockets, a day filled with sunshine, and the energy of two teenagers (well, not quite, but almost!), we decided to be tourists for a day. We quickly mapped our route and were soon headed towards downtown North Platte to begin our adventure.

Lincoln County Courthouse

Our first stop was the southeast corner of the Lincoln County Courthouse. We had driven by the statue of the Sioux Lookout Indian countless times, but had never taken the time to take a closer look. The writing on the base of the statue told of the history and purpose of the statue. It said the statue was erected in 1931 to commemorate the old Oregon Trail.
"Here stands the Sioux Lookout. He was dedicated to the people of Lincoln County on May 30, 1931. He was removed from his permanent location and set at this temporary location on June 15, 2000, by order of the Lincoln County Commissioners."

The hill where Sioux Lookout once stood is located several miles south of North Platte. It was a prominent lookout for Indians, soldiers, trappers, immigrants, the '49ers, and the Pony Express riders. Timber from the hills helped to build old Fort McPherson, the Union Pacific Railroad, and the homes of the early pioneers.
Wow! We had just started the day and had already gotten a fantastic lesson in the history of our town and the land surrounding it. We knew we had too much to see to linger for long, so we headed over to the next stop on our route - the historic Hotel Pawnee.

Hotel Pawnee

As we traveled down Dewey Street towards the hotel, I recalled a conversation I'd had with local author and historian, Jim Beckius. I was fascinated to learn that the brick on those downtown streets had been laid in 1917, and that the oldest business building in North Platte stands on the west corner of Sixth Street and Dewey, across from Alco.

When the building was erected in 1889, it housed Schatz clothing store. In 1902, Charles McDonald bought the building and it became McDonald State Bank. In 1928, the building once again became a clothing store. It has also been home to a jewelry store and is currently the site of Morgan's Monogramming.

I also recalled that the stone that now holds the bowl in the fountain at Cody Park was once the corner pillar of the building. Beckius said they removed the pillar when they moved the doorway of the building.

When we arrived at the Hotel Pawnee, we asked at the front desk if we could take a look around. We especially wanted to see the Crystal Ballroom, where famous musicians such as Lawrence Welk and Tommy Dorsey once played. Donnita Deaver, Hotel Pawnee Activities Director, took time to visit with us and was helpful in answering our questions and pointing out historical relics and other memorabilia in the grand hotel.

We would have liked to stay longer, but we knew we had a lot more to see and should continue on our journey. On our way out the door, however, we stopped by the 20th Century Veterans Memorial office that is located in the hotel and got an update from office manager, Wilma Salisbury. She said they have sold a grand total of 4,359 commemorative bricks as of July 18, 2005. She noted that bricks have been purchased by people living in 43 states, Washington D.C. and Canada.

North Platte Regional Airport-Lee Bird Field

After a quick visit with Wilma, we continued on our way and it was only a few minutes later that we arrived at our next destination - North Platte Regional Airport-Lee Bird Field.
Now, some people may not understand why we would include an airport as part of our day of sightseeing. They may not know that North Platte has the distinction of having the first lighted airfield in the United States!

The story began in 1921, when a representative of the post office department asked the town to consider opening an airfield to assist pilots in transporting airmail across the U.S. The only problem was that flying at night was nearly impossible because there were no lights to guide the pilots to the runways.

On Feb. 22, 1921, pilot Jack Knight made his historic first night airmail flight, landing successfully on a dirt airstrip outlined by 100 kerosene lanterns that were hung on stakes. His night run from North Platte to Omaha was part of the first transcontinental airmail flight from San Francisco to New York.

In 1941, a concrete runway and electric lights were added, and a terminal was built in 1952. To commemorate the history of the airport and its importance to our country's airmail system, an aluminum plane with "US Mail 109" emblazoned on its side now "flies" on the outside wall of the terminal building.

The lobby of the airport is filled with memorabilia, facts and trivia regarding its unique and interesting history. Again, we could have stayed much longer, but we knew we had several stops to make, so we left the airport and headed back into town towards Cody Park.

Cody Park

I must admit, we've been to Cody Park dozens of times during our time in North Platte. We often bring guests to the park to see the animals and enjoy what we consider to be the best deal in Nebraska - a creamy, chocolate/vanilla twist ice cream cone for less than a buck! Today, however, the ice cream would have to wait because we planned to visit the Cody Park Railroad Display, featuring the massive Challenger Engine No. 3977 steam locomotive.

According the sign on the front of the display, the Challenger was built in 1943 for freight and passenger service at speeds up to 70 mph. It was retired from service in 1961, and it is the only one of this class on display in the world.

As we stepped close to the locomotive, I felt dwarfed by its size. Even though Roger is a Union Pacific Railroad employee and works on the engines daily, he was impressed by the size of the enormous locomotive.

A volunteer inside the depot told us the Challenger display attracts 8,000 to 10,000 visitors during the five months of the year they are open. She said that visitors come from throughout the world to see the locomotive and museum. "About a week ago, we had a visitor from Haiti," she said.

As we climbed the steep steps that lead to the locomotive, I was again amazed by its massive size. Once inside, we were fascinated with the large array of valves and handles that were used by the engineer and conductor to operate the train. In the middle of the car was the hopper that they shoveled coal into. We figure it must have been an extremely hot and intense job running that train. Roger said they have it pretty easy these days by comparison.

We spent about a half hour exploring the rest of the train, which included an old mail car and a caboose. Then it was time to head to our final destination - the Lincoln County Historical Museum.
Of course, we couldn't pass by the concession stand at Cody Park without ice cream, so we stopped for a root beer float along the way. As we shared it, we realized that it was the first time we had spent any money that day. All the attractions we had visited were free and open to visitors.

Lincoln County Historical Museum

By the time we arrived at the Lincoln County Historical Museum we were getting a little tired, but the air conditioned building offered places to sit and rest if we chose. The volunteers were friendly and helpful in pointing out things we might like to see and in answering any questions we had.

The exhibits and memorabilia on display took us back to days - and even centuries - gone by. From the antique medical equipment, to covered wagons, to a model of the remains of Ice Age mammoth, "Archie," it was all fascinating and interesting.

The museum is also home to a replica of the world-famous North Platte Canteen. The display is filled with pictures and other items from the tremendous war effort. The Canteen display was recently named as one of the 10 best new tourist attractions in Nebraska.

Outside the museum, we had the option to tour more than 15 buildings, such as a two-story log house, a Sears and Roebuck house, a church, a barn, a school house, Fort McPherson, and a Pony Express Station. We could also watch Master Blacksmiths give demonstrations in the blacksmith shop.

By this time, it was late afternoon and we were both just about out of steam. As we traveled the short distance home, we talked about how much fun it was to be tourists in our own hometown. We had learned a lot, spent a little, and grown to appreciate our "new" hometown like we never had before