Washington County

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Washington County Museum highlights area history in Fort Calhoun

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Uncovering the history of Our Town Fontanelle



FONTANELLE, Neb. (KOLN) - The unincorporated Washington County town of Fontanelle was once in the running to become Nebraska’s capital. We caught up with Faith Norwood, who is the curator of the Washington County Museum, to find out more about this small village that is filled with plenty of history. “It all started with German immigrants that lived in Quincy, Illinois,” Norwood said. “They came here to settle. The community was started in the 1850′s and it was named after Chief Logan Fontenelle, who was the chief of the Omaha Indians. The Quincy party that came here approached Logan Fontenelle. They told him they’d like to name the town in honor of him. They paid him $10 a piece, and he held the property until they returned and were able to lay claim to it.”

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Community celebrates restoration of the Long Creek School



FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (KOLN) - An open house in Fort Calhoun allowed former students to see a restored one-room school house that is now on display at the Washington County Museum. Carl Lorenzen is a member of the board of directors for the museum. We caught up with him to learn more about the significance of this project. “I attended this school from 1950 to 1959,” Lorenzen said. “When I went here, they had kindergarten. But when my brother Phil went here, they just started kids in the first grade. My family goes back a ways with this school. My great grandfather John Lorenzen was here in the 1880′s, and was on the school board. My grandfather Henry, my dad Ed, and myself and my other three siblings went to school here. My grandmother on my mother’s side taught school here in 1901 and 1902.” The project is a $265,000 project. The school was on a local resident’s property. The school was offered to the museum. A local landowner put tin on the roof, and kept it in good enough shape for the structure to make the move. “Today, it’s here at the Washington County Museum as a historic site,” Lorenzen said. “The school was located about four miles west of Fort Calhoun on County Road 32.” Lorenzen says this attraction can now help with education. “Kids can home here and have classes, and learn what it was like to be in a one-room school,” Lorenzen said. “We can have gatherings here. My real hope is that area schools will take advantage of the one-room school experience, and actually teach some classes in here.”
For more information on the Long Creek School, check out the
Washington County Museum