212 W Walnut St
Nevada, MO 64772
(417) 667-9602
bushwhacker.org
The Bushwhacker Museum, housed in a renovated 1920s garage and Ford agency, serves as a repository of more than 150 years of Vernon County history. In the 1871 sandstone jail and sheriff’s house, visitors experience the cell-room of medieval malevolence and visit the restored sheriff’s home.
Learn why the Osage tribe welcomed the first white settlers in the 1820s and why the tribe eventually left the region. Discover why Federal troops during the Civil War called Nevada “The Bushwhacker Capital.” Find out how the community survived and thrived after being burnt to the ground in 1863. Learn what life was like for the POWs at Camp Clark during WWII.
Travelers comes from across the U.S. and a few internationally.
The Vernon County Historical Society (VCHS) is a 501©3 non-profit organization located in Nevada, MO, originally founded in 1938. VCHS expanded significantly in 1965 with the opening of the Bushwhacker Museum in the former Vernon County Jail & Sheriff’s Home at 231 N. Main Street in Nevada. VCHS expanded even further in 1997 when the museum relocated to the lower level of the renovated Moss Building (Nevada Public Library) and the jail house underwent restoration.
VCHS is a mostly volunteer organization with one full-time employee, supported entirely through membership fees, museum admissions, donations, and a permanent endowment fund. The full-time museum coordinator oversees the day-to-day operations of the museum and supervises volunteers. The museum coordinator reports to a nine-member Board of Directors. The museum coordinator and Board of Directors work together to set policy and vision for the organization.
The mission of the Vernon County Historical Society is to present the history of the City of Nevada and Vernon County from the Native American period through the twenty-first century by means of the 1871 Jail & Sheriff’s House and the Bushwhacker Museum.
212 W Walnut St
Nevada, MO 64772
(417) 667-9602
bushwhacker.org
