Cortland Museum

The mission of the Cortland Museum is to preserve the history of the Village of Cortland, Nebraska and the surrounding area. The museum is dedicated to collecting, exhibiting and maintaining the museum while being a valuable educational resource to our community.

To save the Cortland Museum and contents from auction, a small group of citizens began to raise money and took out a loan to buy the museum in December of 2022. After months of cleaning and repairing the inside and outside of the museum, a grand opening was held in October of 2023. Since then, the Cortland Museum Board has restored the original kitchen for an exhibit room and opened a Research/Library room for the public.

In 2024 and 2025 we raised money for siding and in February of 2026, the new siding was completed. In April of 2026 we were a tour stop on the Nebraska Museum Association Annual Conference. 

For our 2026 Big Give Gage Project, the Cortland Museum is starting a multi-year project to expand the museum with a building addition. We are looking to build a building to showcase the agriculture, railroad, automotive and addition of electricity to Cortland and the surrounding community.

We have many items that we cannot display because of the lack of space we have.

Cortland Museum Board-
Sheila Day- President Tim Young- Vice-President
Donelle Moormeier- Secretary Susan Young- Treasurer
Pam Wollenburg Lindsey Oelling Steve Doolittle

Testimonials

"I remember so well when Emma lived there. So long ago. The work so many of you did to preserve this history is incredible and as someone who grew up in Cortland, it warms my heart. A lot of my history and ancestry is in Cortland. Thank you."

"You have put in alot of hard work.... you Cortlandites did a great job!"

"It has been so inspiring to see your community come together to create this museum and now this research and reading room. It shows first hand what happens when people work together. I'm especially appreciative of your hard work and leadership on this project and all over Cortland."

"So proud of all the love and effort that has been put into the museum. The Cortland area is fortunate to have such an interesting and historical museum."