A red souvenir glassware hair receiver displayed at the Decatur Museum.
The Decatur Historical Committee started with organizing activities for the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Expedition visit in 2004. Cemetery tours were organized as well as photos of early Decatur. The committee continued to meet and created the first historic calendar for the year 2004. Their long-term goal was to establish a museum for Decatur. A site was located and Jeff Baker started a fund within the Future of Decatur Foundation umbrella to purchase and finance the beginning of a museum. A non-profit 501(C) 3 corporation was established, and the residence of Doris Ferguson was purchased. It was a 2-story brick home that had been built in 1875 by A.B. Fuller.
The Historical Committee now became the Board of Directors of the Decatur Museum. The Decatur Museum held a dedication ceremony during River Front Days in 2006. The board developed a new mission statement: “The mission of the Decatur Museum is to acquire artifacts as well as stories and historical information, preserving and utilizing them to educate the community about the history of Decatur.” We invited Bill Hansen to visit—a great-great-grandson of Stephen Decatur. After a lot of renovation of the building, the museum opened its doors for the main floor in 2008. The upstairs was ready for displays a couple of years later. Artifacts (all with Decatur provenance) were being donated and displayed regularly. Upstairs held a lot of Decatur Public School memorabilia. The school had consolidated with Lyons, NE in 1984.
A corn shaped fiddle created by George Absolam ‘Whittlin’ Hughes displayed at the Decatur Museum.
We held regular programs utilizing Nebraska Humanities and local speakers. In 2011, we held reunions for Reverend Hamilton as well as Miles Maryott families. Reverend Hamilton was a Presbyterian minister who was responsible for the Omaha Mission boarding school located within a few miles north of Decatur in 1856. Miles Maryott was a famous artist from Nebraska in the early 1900’s. We were able to display 6 or 7 of his paintings. They were loaned to us by members of the Maryott family who lived in Decatur. Another one of our very successful programs was in 2012 when we held a family reunion for the Hughes family, honoring George Absolam ‘Whittlin’ Hughes and show casing his hand carved wooden treasures. We continued with displaying our artifacts—both with a permanent display and timeline of Decatur’s history as well as a rotating display which was exchanged 2-3 times a year. Our board increased to 9 members, all volunteers. Each of us had exceptional talents which helped the museum to thrive. In 2017 we published The Rich History of Decatur, Nebraska a 700-page hardcover book all about Decatur and the surrounding area. The A.B. Fuller brick building (also known as the Robert E. Baker Memorial Building) was accepted by the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. That year we were also responsible for having all the Decatur Newspapers digitized and placed online.
The Decatur Museum before the 2024 fire.
In May 2024, tragedy struck. The building caught fire in the middle of the night and wasn’t discovered until morning. The root cause was never determined but Decatur had experienced a severe electrical storm that night. A few artifacts were salvaged as well as some of the files and books but the historic building was a total loss. The Holy Family Catholic Church had voted to close that year and they gifted their church and fellowship hall to the museum in the spring of 2025. The Decatur Museum reopened in November of 2025 with Christmas displays.
We continue to obtain local history artifacts, photos, and yearbooks from Decatur. Recently we incorporated 2 large screen TVs and have included slide shows of Decatur as well as videos of previous programs. Our fall program was the showing of a 4-panel discussion videotaped in 2012. It was very well attended. A recent artifact donated to us was a loom for making rugs that had been used in Decatur during the 1920-40s.
The Weaver’s Delight Loom displayed at the Decatur Museum.
We all work together with fund-raisers including our annual historical calendar which is now on its 24th year. The village is very appreciative of our efforts to preserve Decatur’s History.
Our location is 703 South 4th Avenue, Decatur, NE. We have a new webpage Decatur Museum.org as well as a Facebook page. For more information you may send us an email janejudt@gmail.com, or call 402-427-4217. Our hours are Wednesday and Saturdays from 1 to 4. We close mid-December and reopen in the spring.
-The Decatur Museum, November 2026
