The Durham Museum in Nebraska, USA

The Durham Museum occupies Omaha Union Station, an Art Deco passenger terminal that served rail travelers from 1931 until 1971. The historic station is part of the museum experience rather than simply a building around the exhibits. Its restored waiting hall, former passenger spaces, railroad cars and architectural details connect the museum’s collections with Omaha’s development as a major rail center.

Omaha Union Station and the Museum’s Development

Construction of the present Union Station began in 1929. Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed the station in the Art Deco style, and Peter Kiewit and Sons constructed the steel-frame building. The station opened with a dedication ceremony on January 15, 1931.

Seven railroad companies used the terminal. At the height of passenger service, thousands of people moved through the station each day, making its waiting rooms, platforms and passenger services an important part of daily life in Omaha.

Changing patterns of passenger transportation eventually reduced rail traffic. The last passenger train departed Union Station on May 2, 1971, and Union Pacific donated the building to the City of Omaha in 1973.

The station reopened in 1975 as the Western Heritage Museum. A major restoration followed in the 1990s, including work on the Great Hall, new museum spaces, building systems and permanent exhibits. The institution became the Durham Western Heritage Museum in 1997 and adopted its present name, The Durham Museum, in 2008.

Omaha Union Station received National Historic Landmark designation on December 23, 2016. The National Park Service also lists it on the National Register of Historic Places and recognizes it as an Omaha Local Landmark.

The Great Hall and Railroad Spaces

The former main waiting room is now the Suzanne and Walter Scott Great Hall. It measures 160 feet long and 72 feet wide, with a ceiling rising about 60 feet above the floor. Sculptured plaster, gold- and silver-leaf details, large plate-glass windows, terrazzo flooring and Belgian marble remain central features of the space.

Six large chandeliers hang in the hall. Bronze sculptural groups by Omaha artist John Lajba depict people associated with the station and the generations who traveled through it.

The museum also preserves the transportation history of the building through former railroad spaces and equipment. The Harriman Family Line display includes passenger cars from the 1940s and 1950s, including a Pullman car, lounge car and caboose, along with a steam locomotive. The Concourse Gallery explains the station’s architecture and the role of passenger rail in Omaha.

Omaha and Regional History Exhibits

The permanent galleries extend beyond railroad history. The museum interprets the people, communities, businesses and events that shaped Omaha and the surrounding region.

The Baright Home and Family Gallery includes material related to the Omaha Tribe as well as later residential life in the city. Visitors can examine reconstructions including an earth lodge setting and a worker’s cottage based on housing built for Omaha families around the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Trans-Mississippi Exposition Gallery focuses on the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, held on a 184-acre site in north Omaha. Photographs, souvenirs and other surviving material document an event that lasted five months and attracted about 2.6 million visitors.

Other permanent areas examine transportation, commerce and daily life. Model trains and the interactive STEAM-oriented Platform space add hands-on elements alongside the historical galleries.

The Byron Reed Collection

One of the museum’s best-known holdings is the Byron Reed Collection. Reed was an Omaha real estate agent and collector who assembled coins, paper money, documents, books and maps during the nineteenth century. He left his collection to the City of Omaha after his death in 1891.

The City of Omaha transferred the collection from the Omaha Public Library to the Western Heritage Museum in 1985. The Durham Museum now cares for almost 10,000 objects from the Reed collection.

Its numismatic holdings range from ancient and colonial coinage to United States federal issues, territorial gold, tokens, medals and paper currency. The collection includes a specimen of the 1804 Dollar. Reed also gathered manuscripts, autographs, books and historical documents, giving the collection value well beyond its coins.

Photo Archive and Historical Collections

The museum’s collections are organized across archival materials, the Byron Reed Collection, historical objects and a large photographic archive. Archival holdings include rare books, maps, letters, certificates and records connected with Omaha organizations and events.

The Photo Archive contains more than one million images documenting Omaha’s history. Its foundation was established in 1975 with the Bostwick-Frohardt Collection, one of the museum’s earliest major donations. The archive preserves views of buildings, transportation, businesses, neighborhoods, public events and everyday life across many periods of the city’s development.

Historical objects in the wider museum collection include clothing, decorative arts, tools, commercial material and household items. Together, these objects allow the galleries to address both major events and ordinary life in Omaha.

Smithsonian Affiliation and Changing Exhibitions

The Durham Museum became a Smithsonian Affiliate in 2002. The affiliation gives the museum opportunities to work with Smithsonian resources and loans. The museum also maintains relationships with institutions including the Library of Congress, the National Archives and the Field Museum.

These relationships support changing exhibitions that supplement the permanent regional history displays. Subjects vary and may include history, culture, science, industry, material culture and other themes, so the temporary gallery program changes during the year.

Visitor Access and On-Site Services

The museum is located just south of Omaha’s Old Market at 801 South 10th Street. Its two-level parking deck is free for museum visitors. The 10th Street entrance provides accessible parking, while the Leavenworth Street level can accommodate taller vehicles.

Wheelchairs and motorized scooters are available at no charge on a first-come, first-served basis. Service animals are permitted for visitors who require them.

Advance admission tickets are recommended but are not required, and the museum accepts walk-in visitors. The museum estimates that an average visit takes about two hours, although the permanent galleries, railroad exhibits and changing exhibitions can support a longer stay.

Union Station’s restored Soda Fountain remains in operation and serves fountain drinks, ice cream and lunch items during regular museum hours. It preserves another function of the original passenger station while continuing to operate as a visitor service.