The Archway is a history museum that uses movies, lights, sounds, life-size figures in dioramas, volunteer staff dressed in period costumes, and classic cars to document over 150 years of transportation and communication across America. It is built where the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails,the most used covered-wagon routes to the West, cross each other.
As you head up into the museum by a very long escalator, you are brought right into history. The Archway brings the westward migration of pioneers to life; an adventure that takes you back in time to covered wagons, hand-pulled carts, stagecoaches, and trains that first arrived on the prairies. The Archway is an interactive adventure that pays tribute to the pioneers who passed through Nebraska on their way West.
You will see the pony express bringing news from distant places, a buffalo stampede, the words and faces of those that lived and died on the route, via your own headphones that narrate personal journals of pioneers, the building of the railroad, the creation of the first transcontinental road (the Lincoln Highway), and today’s modern interstate system. (The last exhibit in the museum, before taking the escalator down, is a view through a window of Interstate 80, as travelers head west. You can clock the speed of them by a radar detector. Surprisingly, not many of them travel at the suggested speed of 75 mph.)
The Archway represents a covered bridge that joins our past to our present and to the future. It was painted to resemble a Nebraska sunset. Early morning and late afternoon sunlight makes the colors shimmer in the distance.
Frank B. Morrison, now 98, who was governor of Nebraska from 1961 to 1967, was inspired to build the monument, because the Kearney area, along the Platte River near Fort Kearny, a former military outpost and vital stop for traveling pioneers, was one of the most historic places on earth, from the standpoint of the evolution of transportation and communication. Also, Kearney is the halfway mark between San Francisco and Boston, on the Lincoln Highway. It is 1733 miles east from Kearney to Boston, and 1733 miles west to San Francisco.
After two years of planning and two years of building, the
$60 million archway opened in June 2000.
The arch itself is 309 ft long, three stories high, and weighs 1,500 tons. The challenge was determining how to erect a 1,500 ton structure that would cross 308 feet of a heavily traveled interstate without impeding traffic flow. It was concluded that the structure had to be built beside the highway and lifted into position. Since the Archway was to look like a covered bridge, two towers were erected-one on each side of the interstate-that served as anchors for the archway bridge to rest. The concrete abutment walls are 60 feet long, 25 feet tall, and 2 feet thick.
The final plan required a 10 hour transport of the Archway using rubber tired, self propelled modular transporters.(SPMTs) The roll-out began by vertically jacking the Archway 22.5 feet with hydraulic jacks and resting the structure on temporary cribbing and a horizontal jacking beam. Once on the beam, the Archway was jacked horizontally, 42 inches at a time, onto the SPMTs. This jacking process took a total of eight days.
On August 16, 1999, the rollout began. Starting at 10pm and ending at 6am, the Archway was moved across the interstate on the SPMTs. It was moved into position by Davenport Mammoet LLC of Rosharon, Texas, using 12 SPMTs. The largest object ever to be transported in Nebraska, the arch was moved 270 ft. at a rate of three ft. per minute. Channel 13, KHGI Television station, had cameras running the whole time the arch was being moved. It was thrilling to watch the arch's slow march across the interstate, knowing how precise the measurements had to be for the arch to align precisely. What an engineering feat!
President Bill Clinton visited the Archway in December 2000. Its greatest national exposure so far was in the movie "About Schmidt," in which Jack Nicholson's character stops in on his way back to Omaha from his daughter's wedding in Denver. The Archway is also mentioned in the book,"1000 Places to See Before You Die, in the USA and Canada." The Miami Herald newspaper,in Florida, has recently named the Great Platte River Road Archway as one of 10 cool kids museums in the nation, coming in at #6.
"Welding Works, Inc. Madison, Connecticut, are the creators of the two large wings adorning the two towers of the Archway. Designed by Kent Bloomer, the two sets of 25 foot-high aluminum wings are mounted atop the north and south towers of the Archway. Wings were chosen by Bloomer to symbolize movement, transportation and communication. An aluminum horse leaps out of one set of wings, representing the Pony Express."
(from: (
visit link)
Also on the Archway property is the Trailblaze Maze, many native American teepees, stagecoaches, covered wagons, and a large sculpture of a bison. There is something here for everyone. This museum actually makes you feel as though you have stepped back in history and are viewing all of these events firsthand. In my opinion, it is a must see for anyone interested in American history.
When the Archway was being built, the agreement was to make an exit at the archway to accomodate people driving on I-80 from both directions. After the archway was completed, there was no further attempt to make an exit there. One has to drive 2 miles west and take the exit at #272 and then drive back 2 miles to the museum. For folks traveling east, the exit appears before the Archway, and folks don't know it's even there untl they pass under it. The only way to reach it from the east (if you miss the #272 exit) is to take exit #279 and come back up I-80 to #272. Many people won't turn around, and the loss of customers at the archway almost was its undoing. It lost money the first 5 years and the doors almost closed. It was, thankfully saved, by grants from the National Park systems, who are helping the Archway museum develop an original Pawnee village on the property. When the village is completed there will be two Pawnee Lodges. One of these lodges will be the largest lodge built in the US.
There is still conflict on creating an exit at the archway, as according to state law, only 2 exits are allowed per town, unless it is a larger city. The roads department doesn't have enough money in the budget, etc. etc. The suggestion has been made to make it a rest area exit, but no solutions have been made. If there isn't some form of exit available, the future of the wonderful Archway Musuem is doubtful.
To get to the Archway, heading west on I-80, take exit #272 Kearney, exit right. Go one block and turn right at the first stoplight, go one block and turn right at Central Ave., go one block and turn left onto 1st Street. Follow the signs to the Archway for 2 miles until you reach the Archway. Parking is free, and there is plenty of room for large RVs and trucks.
Summer
May 24, 2008 – September 1, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Everyday
Fall
September 2, 2008 – October 31, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Everyday
Winter
November 1, 2008 - February 28, 2009
10:00 – 3:00 Fri~Sat~Sun
Spring
March 1, 2009 – May 22, 2009
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Everyday
Directions
Directly off I-80 Exit 272
General Admission for Archway tour
* No entry fee for the Archway lobby, gift shop and restaurant
Adults (16 & up) $10.00
Seniors (62+) $ 8.50
Youth (11 -15) $ 6.00
Child (6 - 10) $ 3.00
5 & Under FREE