Discover Schuyler through its many facets: commercial buildings tell the story of the city’s development, a mural and a museum add their own cultural highlights, and parks round out the picture with green spaces. Travelers looking for a destination connected to commerce, railroad history, and landscape will find several specific themes here that help put Schuyler in context.
Commerce, Urban Development, and the Lincoln Highway
The Schuyler Downtown Historic District is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places because of its local significance in the areas of commerce, urban planning, and development. The district’s commercial buildings illustrate Schuyler’s development: from a railroad depot to a thriving agricultural community and then a tourist destination along the highway. These different stages are part of a shared local history that can be traced through the development of business and the city.
The original route of the Lincoln Highway also brings this transportation history to life. It entered the city from the south along B Street, then turned west onto 11th Street. This historic alignment adds a named road route to the story of the transition from railroad depot to highway destination. Those interested in the history of commerce and urban development will find two distinct but related themes in the district and the Lincoln Highway route: the built environment’s development in one, and a historic connection traced by the road in the other.
Art, Museum, and Theater
A single work of art gives the city another cultural facet: the Schuyler United States Post Office is home to Philip Von Saltza’s mural “Wild Horses by Moonlight.” Its specific title and attribution to an artist make it a clearly defined art connection within the city. It complements the history of the commercial buildings with a different format, without repeating the historical focus on commerce and development.
The Schuyler / Colfax County Museum is located in downtown Schuyler. It is a large historical exhibit that appeals to people of different ages and interests. It therefore offers a broad introduction to history, while the mural focuses on a single work. Check the museum’s current visitor policies before your trip.
The Colfax Theater’s origins are also part of the cultural picture: it was renovated through volunteer labor and donations, and continues to be run by volunteers. The museum, mural, and theater thus represent different cultural highlights—a historical exhibit, a named work of art, and a theater sustained by ongoing volunteer involvement.
Parks and an Arboretum
Schuyler’s park system includes two parks totaling around 155 acres. This figure describes the system as a whole; it does not refer to each park individually. Complementing these parks, the Railside Green Arboretum offers a garden with native plants and a bioswale. The city’s green spaces thus include both the broader perspective of its park system and a specific garden with two named landscape features.
These themes have different focuses: the Historic District and the Lincoln Highway offer insights into local and transportation history, the museum and theater provide cultural highlights, and the parks and arboretum add green spaces to these perspectives. This makes it easier to match Schuyler to your own travel interests, rather than reducing the city to a single theme.
For an overview of the wider area: Colfax County.
