During your visit to the Prairie Museum of Art and History explore the 21,500 square foot museum building housing area exhibits on the High Plains of Kansas as well as the Kuska Collections. Outdoor exhibits reflect the lives of the pioneers that settled in Western Kansas in the 1870s. Remember to stop by the Museum Mart in the main museum building for a unique shopping experience.
Prairie Museum of Art and History Main Building
Start your visit in the Prairie Museum of Art and History’s main building. Designed by George Kuska, son of Joe and Nellie Kuska, the Museum is made of pre-stressed concrete. Native buffalo grass encircles the building, beautifully blending with the surrounding prairie. Within the Museum’s main building you will find High Plains Journeys: The People, The Places, The Journeys exhibit, the Museum’s renowned Kuska Collection and other temporary exhibits that frequently change. In addition, the Museum’s library maintains a non-lending collection of books on area history of the Great Plains as well as reference books on antiques and the Kuska Collection.
High Plains Journeys: The People, The Places, The Journeys
Experience the High Plains region from the prehistoric period to the present. High Plains Journeys: The People, The Places, The Journeys explores Kansas history through Thomas County objects, stories, photos and other unique historical treasures.
Kuska Collection
The unique Kuska Collection is the result of Joseph and Nellie Kuska’s lifelong passion for collecting. By 1957 the couple moved to Lomita, California where they opened the Kuska Museum featuring the unique items they had collected over the years. After the death of Nellie Kuska in 1973, the Kuska Museum was closed and the collection, in its entirety, was donated to the people of Thomas County. Enjoy the Kuska Collection including over 28,000 dolls, furniture, clothing, quilts, toys, ceramics, silver, souvenirs, household items, tools, musical instruments, coins, clocks, stamps, guns, minerals and art.
Outdoor Exhibits
You can experience early prairie life in a sod house, a one-room schoolhouse, a country church and a 1930s farmstead located on the Museum’s 24-acres of outdoor exhibit space. In addition, Cooper Barn features the Museum’s High & Dry: Agriculture on the High Plains exhibit.
Sod House
Built by volunteers in 1984, the Prairie Museum of Art and History’s Sod House is reflective of the sod houses common to the pioneer families of the late 19th century. As you enter the Sod House through a latch string door, the earthy smell and period displays will take you back to life on the Great Plains in the 1870s.
Nicol School
Delight in the antique school desks and authentic wood burning stove in Nicol School. The one-room Nicol School building at the Prairie Museum of Art and History is a symbol of cultural and social importance of education to the pioneers and represents the rural schools that once graced the landscape in Thomas County.
Lone Star Church
Originally organized by a group of Danish settlers, Lone Star Church, like many buildings in Kansas, has seen its far share of locations. After being donated to the Prairie Museum of Art and History in 1988, it was moved to the Museum site where it remains to this day. Learn about the vital importance of the church for the people settling on the prairie in the Lone Star Church. Inside you will find old pews and a pulpit donated along with the building as well as an early 20th century organ with six octaves and eleven stops.
Eller House
Discover what life was like on a 1930s farmstead. As you explore the Eller House at the Prairie Museum of Art and History, the period furnishings and artifacts provide insight into what the daily lives of a family living on a 1930s farmstead would have entailed from daily chores to the meals they prepared.
High & Dry: Agriculture on the High Plains in Cooper Barn
The Cooper Barn was added to the Prairie Museum of Art and History in 1992, and its relocation to the Museum site was one of the biggest media events recorded in Thomas County history. Known as the largest barn in Kansas at 66 feet wide, 114 feet long and 48 feet high, today the Cooper Barn houses one of the Museum’s newest exhibits, High & Dry: Agriculture on the High Plains, a premier interpretation of agriculture in northwest Kansas that showcases over 100 years of photos and artifacts.
- The Prairie Museum of Art and History’s main building is air conditioned, perfect for warm summer days, and offers plenty of places to sit and rest.
- Be sure to stop by the Museum Mart in Prairie Museum of Art and History’s main building. Here you will find gifts and souvenirs unique to the Kansas High Plains.