Papillion Boy Scouts' Cabin

In 2020, the year this marker went up, Troop 60, the city and townspeople restored the cabin and gave it a new foundation. The city owns it, the troop still uses it, and it is a regular stop for school field trips. In March 2024 vandals spray-painted letters across its sides and back, and city officials warned that the paint would be hard to lift from the limestone and oak logs without more damage. Papillion itself, platted in 1870 when the railroad was extended to it, takes its name from its creek, from the French for butterfly.

What the plaque says

Papillion Boy Scouts' Cabin Scouting was introduced to Papillion in 1913 with the formation of Boy Scout Troop 1. In 1921, the village granted permission to the troop's scoutmaster, Rev. B. Johansen, to build a log cabin as the troop headquarters. The limestone foundation was sourced from an old mill house and oak logs were cut and delivered from near the Platte River. Rev. Johansen and local woodsmen spent the summer and fall building the cabin. Before the first snowfall the cabin was finished with a green shingle roof and a stone fireplace. The community dedicated the cabin in June 1922. In 1927, Papillion Troop 1 was renumbered to Troop 60 and sponsored by the Brotherhood of St. Paul. In 1934, sponsorship was assumed by the Papillion American Legion Post 32, which continues today. The Boy Scouts' Cabin has been in continuous use since 1922, still serving a role in Troop 60's operations. The cabin is a beloved local landmark celebrating the community's pride in both scouting and the City of Papillion. Papillion Area Historical Society Boys Scout Troop 60 City of Papillion History Nebraska, 2020

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Joslyn Art Museum — 8.9 mi
  Omaha's free art museum, a 1931 Art Deco memorial with two modern pavilions, and the keeper of Karl Bodmer's watercolors from the upper Missouri in 1833 and 1834.
• The Durham Museum (Omaha Union Station) — 9.0 mi
  Omaha's 1931 Union Station, Gilbert Stanley Underwood's Art Deco depot for the Union Pacific, closed to trains in 1971 and kept as a city museum with its waiting room intact.
• Malcolm X Birthsite — 10 mi
  The North Omaha lot where Malcolm Little was born in May 1925 and his family was driven out by the Klan, saved by Rowena Moore and now planned as a cultural center.
• Winter Quarters and the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery — 13 mi
  The Latter-day Saint camp of 1846 to 1848 on Omaha land in what is now Florence, where hundreds died the first winter, and the cemetery and trail center beside it.

More markers nearby

• Original Union Pacific Main Line through Papillion — steps away
• Omaha — 5.9 mi
• Ak-Sar-Ben Field and the U.S. Air Mail — 6.4 mi
• Springfield Community Hall — 6.9 mi