Five miles west of Beatrice, Nebraska, this National Park System site preserves land tied to some of the first successful claims under the Homestead Act of 1862, including Daniel Freeman’s claim filed on January 1, 1863. The act opened up to 160 acres to qualified settlers and ultimately moved 270 million acres from public to private ownership across the United States. Established in 1936 and later renamed, the park explores both the opportunity and the far-reaching consequences of homesteading through historic buildings, museum exhibits, and a restored tallgrass prairie. Its interpretation now also addresses environmental change and the effects of the act on Native tribes and Indigenous peoples.