Visitor Services

Restrooms, changing stations, drinking fountains, phones, and gift shops are available at the Heritage Center and Education Center. Soft drinks and bottled water are available from vending machines outside the Heritage Center and Education Center.

The nearest lodging, dining, and medical facilities are in Beatrice, Nebraska four miles to the east.

Visitor Centers

Homestead National Monument of America has two building that serve as visitor contact stations: The Heritage Center and the Education Center.

Homestead Heritage Center
Construction on the new Homestead Heritage Center at Homestead National Monument of America is complete. The building was dedicated and opened on May 20th. The Opening Celebration was held May 20, the anniversary of the signing of the Homestead Act by Abraham Lincoln. 

This multipurpose facility brings the epic homestead story to life for visitors of all ages and demonstrates the true scope and importance of the Homestead Act of 1862.

State-of-the-art exhibits present homesteading in an interactive setting. Such topics as the Act's influence on immigration, agriculture, industrialization, native tribes, the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and Federal land policies are presented in an educational and thought-provoking manner.

A diverse, detailed and complete picture of homesteading and the Homestead Act are presented at the Homestead Heritage Center. The building is designed to represent the Homestead Act of 1862 with its spectacular views and unique roof line resembling a single bottom plow moving through the sod. Along the sidewalk entrance to the building is the "Living Wall," a physical representation of the percentage of land that was successfully homesteaded in each state. Even the parking lot is educational in nature; it is one acre in size.

The Heritage Center includes an area used as a repository for microfilm copies of every homestead case file produced throughout the life of the Act.  The approximately two million microfilmed case files will be stored in this facility.  These records, as they are microfilmed and indexed in partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will be available to visitors, scholars, genealogists and historians. As they come on-line, visitors to the Monument will be able to learn about the hardships and joys homesteaders experienced through museum exhibits and the primary homesteading documents in the records center. The records center will play a vital role in presenting a complete view of homesteading history.

Education Center
Soon after becoming established a homesteader's physical act of sowing seeds grew into an intellectual need to sow the seeds of knowledge. Families worked together as a community to meet the social and educational needs of the children.

Homestead National Monument of America uses the Education Building to provide modern Americans the opportunity to meet their quest for further knowledge about homesteading through Hands-on arts and crafts demonstrations, real life science experiences, and distance learning. Talk to the Ranger in the Education Building [or at the Heritage Center] about these opportunities.

While at the Education Center see the Log Cabin built in 1867, view the museum displays of tools and farm machinery, and begin your hike onto the Tallgrass Prairie. Nearby is the one room Freeman School house.

Accessibility

The Heritage Center and Education Center are wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs, assisted listening devices, and special assistance are available upon request at both facilities. All video is open captioned. Service animals are welcome. Pets must be kept on a leash and in designated outside areas.

The hiking trails consist of crushed rock and have moderate inclines in places. The trail from the Education Center across the Cub Creek Bridge to the Prairie Plant Display is hard surfaced.