Small recreated village that represents rural Nebraska in early 1900's. Free of charge. Can spend... read more
Small recreated village that represents rural Nebraska in early 1900's. Free of charge. Can spend... read more
We enjoyed walking around looking in all the buildings and exploring. It felt a little odd with no... read more
On our vacation to the Black Hills area, we ventured over near Alliance, NE to see Carhenge. I had read on the net about this "Dobby's Frontier Town" but I hadn't looked much into it. After Carhenge, we decided to swing by there. After looking at a few of the buildings, a friendly (and quite knowledgeable!) gentleman (Dustin) walked over and started to offer some insight to what we were seeing. This is more than 'just a few old historic buildings!' There is SO MUCH history and working items
(great condition!) in each of these buildings so cared for from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Dustin took some time to explain what many of these things did for folks back in the day, and gave us tour of all the little buildings that nearby businesses have contributed to. All this, and it was free!? Donations are gladly taken, which we were more than happy to donate to. A gentleman by the name of Dobby started this little gem as a place for young and old to touch and understand how things worked back then... it is clear that the folks & family who knew this man have quite a passion for it. If you are into history, and how people lived back in the day, this is a stop.
Maybe its because i went during the week, but not what i expected. Don't get me wrong it was cool to see all the old style buildings and how the way of life was back then. I suggest going on a weekend so you can get more out of the experience.
Some old buildings and some nice antiques. It is free to visit. Like another reviewer stated, this is a frontier town sitting in the owner's backyard. I wouldn't go out of my way to see this.
Dobby's is a great place for a morning or an afternoon. All of the buildings are ACTUAL buildings representing a time gone by. Not all the buildings were from the Alliance area, but they were all actual buildings used for the various shops, post office, medical building, etc. Bring your water, the day we visited it was hot and windy! Definitely worth the drive from Alliance.
This "town" consists of many old buildings that have been moved from other sites, plus some that have been constructed in old style in order to represent particular town functions (and to hold collected artifacts). It is a slow paced pace to be explored at leisure; someone volunteered to guide us, so we learned a lot, but there isn't a lot of explanatory signage. This easterner came away with an extra appreciation for the west and the settlers' ingenuity and grit.
With all the rushing around today and the focus on electronic gadgets, it was nice to be able to go someplace that focused on the simpler times of days past. We visited on a Sunday so we weren't sure if they would be open. When we arrived we were greeted by Craig, the "Sheriff" of the town. He is also responsible for much of the construction. ( Hard to believe this was a no charge attraction. They do have a place where you can give a donation, but there was no push at all to do so. They rely on donations to keep it going). Sheriff Craig spent over 2 hours with us, giving us a tour of every building in the Town. There was authentic "stuff" everywhere you turned. The General Store looked like it was still in business with shelves stocked with cool old items. The Saloon was cool with a real section of bar out of an old local Saloon. The jail was a must see, and the bank contains teller windows that were once breached by the infamous Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid. There is there original cabin of a former slave Robert Anderson, a gas station, a cobbler shop, a dress shop, a print shop, etc. We were traveling with our three teenage kids and they all found it extremely interesting. Thanks again to Sheriff Craig for taking time out of his "fence mending" to give us a tour of Dobby's.