A History of Partnership

In the early days of the last century, a group of Council Bluffs men and women dedicated themselves to establishing the City's first Free Public Library. In January 1903, the City received a bequest of $74,000 from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to build such a library. The generous grant led to the construction of the Carnegie Free Public Library. Opened to the public on August 15, 1905, the building is one of the largest Carnegie libraries in the state, built in the beautiful and unique Beaux Arts style.

In 1998, the City moved into a new public library. Flooded with requests to preserve the Carnegie Library for public use, the City of Council Bluffs challenged the Friends of the Carnegie Cultural Museum to raise $3.5 million to restore the building and establish a home for Union Pacific's Historical Collection. Nearly five years later, the museum was formally opened on May 10, 2003, the one hundred thirty-fourth anninversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

In an unusual partnership of local government, private business and concerned citizens, the City, the Friends and Union Pacific joined forces to create the Union Pacific Railroad Museum. Under this arrangement, the City leases the building to Union Pacific, Union Pacific pays the museum's general operating (building-related) expenses, and the Friends raised the original construction and renovation funds, supplies museum volunteers, and finances the maintenance of and upgrades to the museum's extensive exhibits.