The Union Pacific Museum Collection
The Collection's History and Contents
The Union Pacific Museum was founded in 1921, following the discovery of several silver serving pieces from President Abraham Lincoln's funeral car. The Collection now includes a diversity of items relating to the history of the Union Pacific from 1862 to the present, including: furniture from the Lincoln car; furnishings from the Council Bluffs Transfer Hotel; railroad memorabilia connected with the ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10, 1869; and numerous other railroad artifacts.
Also part of the Collection are General Grenville Dodge's surveying instruments, and various lanterns, locks, keys, pieces of china, silver, and weapons from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Collection contains outlaw paraphernalia, various Plains Indian materials, as well as library materials and extensive photograph collections comprising an estimated 500,000 images from the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Chicago and North Western, and Missouri Pacific Railroads. A sampling of these images may be viewed online in the UP Photo Gallery.
For information concerning commercial use of images in the Union Pacific Collection, please contact the museum at (402) 501-3843.
We cannot assist with geneology research, real estate issues, accident records or model railroad inquiries.
Contact Information
Mailing Address:
Union Pacific Museum
200 Pearl St.
Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503
FAX Number:
712-323-4973