Fort Kearny State Historical Park preserves the site of Fort Kearny, the Army post built in 1848 to protect and supply travelers on the Great Platte River Road, where the Oregon, California and Mormon trails ran together along the south side of the Platte River.

History. Lt. Daniel P. Woodbury began the post in spring 1848. It was first called Fort Childs and was renamed that year for Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny. Early travelers noted it had no walls at all: it was a way station, supply depot, mail and message center and place for medical help, not a walled fort. The California Gold Rush brought about 30,000 travelers past it in 1849 alone, and on May 24 of that year between 500 and 600 wagons went by in a single day. In 1860 and 1861 it was a Pony Express and Overland stage station, and it later served as a telegraph station and a base for Army campaigns on the plains. Once the transcontinental railroad replaced the wagon trails, the Army abandoned the fort in 1871.

The park today. In 1929 the Fort Kearny Memorial Association bought 40 acres of the site, which became the state historical park. It has an interpretive center with trail-era artifacts and exhibits, a reconstructed stockade and blacksmith shop, and the outlines of the original buildings around the parade ground. Living-history events are held in summer. A Nebraska park entry permit is required. Call 308-865-5305.

Nearby: Fort Kearny State Recreation Area (camping, sandpit lakes and spring sandhill cranes), the Fort Kearny Hike-Bike Trail across the Platte, and Kearney. Related trails: Oregon National Historic Trail and Pony Express National Historic Trail.