Weeping Water Academy

The plaque's last line no longer holds. The town library left this building in 2011 for a downtown building, and the 1871 church, built of limestone from the Weeping Water quarries and since damaged by water, is now in the care of the Weeping Water Valley Historical Society. High school students and volunteers replastered its walls, repainted and repaired the woodwork. Part of it is being fitted as a genealogy center with money from Tom Meeske, whose family owned the Gambles store downtown, and the rest is planned for birthday parties, gatherings and weddings.

What the plaque says

Weeping Water Academy This building was constructed by community effort in 1871 of native limestone as the Congregational Church and served in that capacity until a new brick church was constructed 1887-1890. The nearby stone parsonage, first occupied in 1867, was sold in 1870 to provide funds for the 1871 church. The old church provided space for the chapel, class- rooms, and library for the Weeping Water Academy which was established in 1885, as its founders felt their children could not receive adequate training in the local public schools of the day. An active promoter of the school was the Rev. George Hindley. Due to his efforts, the school became and remained identified with the Congregationalists, although the work was largely nondenominational. Three formal courses of study were offered including classical, scientific and English Normal. As enrollment increased, other buildings were utilized or constructed with the largest being Hindley Cottage. The school closed in June 1914, due to decreased enrollment as public schools improved. During its 29 years of existence, the academy had some 220 graduates. In 1917 this building became the "Weeping Water Academy Library" and continues to serve as the public library today. Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum — 14 mi
  Two hangar-sized halls beside I-80 near Ashland holding the bombers and reconnaissance planes of the command that ran America's nuclear force from Offutt, south of Omaha, from 1948 to 1992.
• Arbor Lodge State Historical Park — 19 mi
  J. Sterling Morton's estate in Nebraska City, a four-room house of 1855 grown to 52 rooms among the trees he planted, home of the man who proposed Arbor Day in 1872.

More markers nearby

• St. Patrick's Cemetery — 6.0 mi
• Bess Streeter Aldrich: 1881-1954 — 8.0 mi
• Nehawka Flint Quarries — 8.4 mi
• Gretna Fish Hatchery — 12 mi