Pioneer Village in Minden will receive national attention on 'American Pickers'
MINDEN, Neb. — The Harold Warp’s Pioneer Village will be getting National attention as it will be featured on the History Channel's show "American Pickers."
The episode, “Wolfes Go West,” will air Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 8 p.m., according to Pioneer Village.
The pickers are famous for traveling across America in search of rare artifacts and national treasures that they can buy from collectors, they then sell the items in their antiques shops or, in some cases, put in their personal collections. In Minden, they found the perfect place for their adventures.
“The original intend of Harold Warp’s Pioneer Village was to create and commemorate how America grew, and a lot of it started with our settlers and the equipment they used and the times they had to deal with," said Pioneer Village board member Sally Jurgensmier.
Now a group of people including foundation board members and volunteers, are working to preserve the village and museum created by Harold Warp.
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Last year, the American Pickers' stars Mike Wolfe and Robbie Wolfe visited Minden with a production crew of around 15 people. They spent three days filming.
"They were focused primarily on the quonsets, north of the village/museum area, those quonsets hadn't been opened for a while, they maybe hadn't seen daylight for around 50 years," Jurgensmier said. “Nobody really knew what they were going to find, and it wasn’t organized, it wasn’t like, this section is all machinery, and this section is locamotives. No, it was a mishmash, it was really what the pickers thrive on.”
Jurgensmier said that after filming, Pioneer Village foundation members spent about nine months asking show producers and the History Channel through email when the episode was going to air.
"They were very nice and cordial, but they didn't reveal any more information than they had to," Jurgensmier. "Now that they did [reveal the date], and we are all so excited, it's going to be great."
Jurgensmier said the Pioneer Village foundation is trying to increase exposure of the museum. Currently they have a list of over 120 volunteers. In 2021, the foundation and volunteers began revitalization efforts of the Village.
"We are just trying to bring it back to life," Jurgensmier added.
To restore the landmark back to its former glory, the foundation has received a couple of state grants, and they are open to more founding opportunities. Jurgensmier said that through the revitalization process they have talked to people out of state that can help them get the funding needed for their goals, and many of them say the vast inventory of the Pioneer Village can't be found anywhere else.
Norman Christensen is a Minden resident who said the exposure on the History Channel could help the Pioneer Village a lot.
“The village hasn’t had the people they used to get, and some recognition will maybe help them draw more people in this summer," Christensen said.
That's exactly what Jurgensmier, and Heather Riggleman, executive director of the Minden Chamber of Commerce, are hopeful for.
“People like to see where they [show stars] have been and maybe walk on those same grounds the pickers have walked on, and touch the same things the pickers touched, and you know just have that connection," Jurgensmier said. "We love the exposure and we truly need it. We are really hoping that with the spring season coming upon us and when summer vacationing people head out in their campers that they remember ‘oh they were in Pioneer Village in Minden, we better stop by.'"
“More and more people are wanting to experience the different things that small towns offer," Riggleman said. "We do think that once that airs more individuals will be wanting to come to Minden and go to the Pioneer Village and also check out the other different things we have in our community. We look forward to tourists and individuals from the surrounding communities visiting our town."
Riggleman added that the revitalization of Minden keeps gaining momentum.
