Discover 5 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Wayne (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Wayne Municipal Auditorium, Dr. W.C. Wightman House, and Wayne United States Post Office. Also, be sure to include Wayne County Courthouse in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Wayne (Nebraska).
Table of Contents
Wayne Municipal Auditorium
The Wayne Municipal Auditorium in Wayne in Wayne County, Nebraska was built in 1935 as a Public Works Administration project. It is Art Deco in style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
It is a three-story rectangular building. It has a large auditorium and two other meeting spaces that have served as community meeting places, as a gymnasium, a playhouse, a movie hall, and a commencement hall.[1]
Address: 222 N Pearl St, Wayne
Dr. W.C. Wightman House
The Dr. W. C. Wightman House in Wayne, Nebraska was built in Shingle Style in 1900. Also known as the Rollie W. Ley House and as the Wightman-Ley House, it is a two-and-a-half-story house with a large porch around two sides of its first story. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
It was built for Dr. W. C. Wightman, a doctor for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. Wightman moved to California in 1912 and sold the home to Rollie W. Ley. Ley worked his way up from clerk at the Wayne State National Bank (in 1899) to become president and chairman of the bank's board (in 1924).
The house was deemed in its NRHP nomination to be "a fine example of the Shingle Style mode of architecture. Though a vernacular version of the style, this house has many characteristic features, such as the shingled upper floors over the clapboarded first floor, Palladian windows in the gables, elaborate wood paneled entry hall with window seat, fireplace and winding staircase, the generally open floor plan and the exquisite parquette flooring on first floor. Modest examples of this style which utilized more obvious classical motifs were more popular in Nebraska than the fully developed mode."
In 1978 the house was under restoration by the Wayne County Historical Society.
In 2010 the house served as the Wayne County Museum.[2]
Wayne United States Post Office
The Wayne United States Post Office on Pearl Street in Wayne in Wayne County, Nebraska was built during 1934–35. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
According to its NRHP nomination, the post office was important as "Many jobs were created in a community that sorely needed them, and a lovely facility was constructed that has contributed to the livability of Wayne as a charming mid-sized community...."[3]
Wayne County Courthouse
Courthouse. The Wayne County Courthouse, at 510 Pearl St. in Wayne, Nebraska, is a Richardsonian Romanesque-style historic courthouse that was built in 1899. It is a 70-by-80-foot building located in the center of a 4-acre square amidst, somewhat unexpectedly, a residential neighborhood. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Its cornerstone indicates that it was designed by Minneapolis architects Orff & Guilbert, but it seems to have been wholly designed by Fremont D. Orff (1856–1914) alone, and it was built by Omaha contractors Rowles & Moore.[4]
Wayne State College
Public university in Wayne, Nebraska. Wayne State College is a public college in Wayne, Nebraska. It is part of the Nebraska State College System and enrolls 4,202 students. The college opened as a public normal school in 1910 after the state purchased the private Nebraska Normal College. The State Normal College became State Normal School and Teacher's College in 1921. This was changed to Nebraska State Teachers College at Wayne in 1949 and the present name was adopted in 1963.[5]
Address: 1111 Main St, Wayne