CUSTER COUNTY MUSEUM

The Custer County Museum, in Broken Bow – 100 miles east of Mullen - is featured in the movie “All About Schmitz” starring Jack Nicholson. It offers historical information on the settlement of Custer County and a new display opened in 2007 featuring the works of renowned artist Solomon Butcher. In the museum you’ll find exhibits that provide a glimpse into 19th century life in Custer County. A wonderful bit of Americana can be seen in the museum’s large front room - a recreation of the Wescott, Gibbons, and Bragg General Merchandise Store of Comstock, Nebraska-complete with the most of the store’s original display cases and merchandise. 

The store was first established in 1886 in Westcott, Nebraska, by Walter Wescott, a Wisconsin cattleman, who was later joined by son-in-laws Walter Gibbons and Charles Bragg. After the railroad came to the east side of the Middle Loup River, Walter is said to have slid his store across the ice to Comstock in December of 1899. By 1912 a drug store had been built onto the original store then operated by J. D. Rockhold. The pharmacy as it appeared in the Comstock store is also on display in our museum’s front room. You can contact the Custer County Historical Society at 308-872-2203, or write to them at Post Office Box 334, 445 South 9th Avenue, Broken Bow, NE 68822.

The email address is: cchs@inebraska.com