6 | Dawson & Gosper County Travel Guide 2024
Biplane, a log cabin, train depot and an early rural school house built in 1888. The museum also houses on-going paleontology work on “Big Al,” a mammoth skeleton discovered north of Cozad, and features an art gallery and archives for genealogical and other historical research. Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles, located at the Lexington I-80 exit, features military vehicles and memorabilia from WW I, WW II, the Korean and Vietnam wars as well as Operation Desert Storm. Nearly all the vehicles are fully operational, and they have appeared in films, parades, festivals and at veteran’s reunions. The building also houses a gift shop, public restrooms and educational displays. The
settlement of the West was a tumultuous time and two sites of Indian raids are commemorated near Lexington. Turkey Leg Raid Site, three miles west of Lexington, is the place where a Union Pacific Train was derailed and attacked by Indians. Plum Creek Massacre Cemetery, 14 miles southeast of Lexington, is where the victims of an Indian raid on a wagon train are buried. An Oregon Trail marker and a Mormon Pioneer Trail marker are located south of Lexington. The Lexington area is a winter nesting site for an estimated 250 bald eagles. They feed primarily below the Central Nebraska Public Power District J-2 Hydroplant southeast of town. The J-2 Eagle Viewing Site is open to the public,
free of charge, through February. For information, go to www.cnppid.com. The Dawson County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at 700 North Washington Street, between 7th and 8th streets in Lexington. The building houses the County District Court of the 11th Judicial District. It was built during 1913-14 and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The county was created in 1860 and Lexington was selected as the county seat in 1871 when the county was organized. The first courthouse was a two story brick structure built by Otto Hanson in 1873 to 1874. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1913 to 1914.
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator