Grundy Center Historical Society

05/26/2026

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05/01/2026

It's almost wedding season! Are you or someone you love planning a wedding this year?
Weddings through the years have been joyous affairs, weaving together elements of tradition and style that reflect the timeless beauty of love and commitment.
Last summer, the Grundy Center Historical Society exhibited a beautiful display of vintage bridal gowns from the 1900s through the 1980s at the museum. We also featured bridal bouquets, heirloom china, wedding portraits, cakes, histories of wedding traditions and much more. Each dress and photograph had a link to the Grundy Center community.
We're pleased to share a compilation of the dresses and their compelling details that were displayed.

Grundy Center Historical Society Weddings Bridal Gowns Video

03/27/2026

Thanks for the kind words!

03/15/2026

03/02/2026

Are you ready for another episode of our podcast? This month, we're featuring the Grundy Center Fire Department! Our latest exhibit is open to the public and we've interviewed Darrel Shuey and Kevin Kuester, who have both served on the department for over forty years!

YouTube link to watch: https://youtu.be/T3K6OX6DcVk?si=T-mW-9aX_c-gtxLm

Listen here- https://www.grundycenterhistory.org/listen-to-podcasts/episode/31f9f936/grundy-center-firemen-always-ready

Don't miss the GC Firemen Exhibit that will run through the spring and our open house coming up this Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Grundy Center Historical Society Podcasts · Episode

02/23/2026

We are firing up something special at the museum soon! Be sure to check back for our latest exhibit information!

02/16/2026

If you’re enjoying a three-day weekend, you can thank a 1968 bill, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, in which Congress moved the observance of George Washington’s Birthday from each February 22 to the third Monday of the month, marked on most calendars as Presidents Day. The official recognition for Washington began in 1879, eighty years after his death. While it became common practice to mark Abraham Lincoln’s February 12 birthday alongside Washington’s day, the official federal recognition remains “Washington’s Birthday.”
Love a mini-history lesson? The Grundy Center Historical Society museum will be open to the public each Wednesday afternoon, beginning March 4! You’ll never know what you’ll discover!

02/14/2026

Happy Valentine's Day! We hope you enjoyed our series- When Harry Met Sally Sessions- with a few area couples. As you celebrate today, remember St. Valentine whom the holiday is named for. Who was he? According to NPR, Emperor Claudius II of Rome executed two different men named Valentine on February 14 (in two different years) during the third century. One account of St. Valentine says that he was a priest who was arrested for defying a Roman decree that forbade soldiers from marrying. He was executed for the crime of continuing to wed lovers in secret.
Another story says that it was all to do with an imprisoned priest who fell in love with one of his visitors and wrote letters to her. According to History.com, the priest supposedly sent the woman a letter before his ex*****on that he signed off, "From your Valentine."
There is romantic undertones in both of these stories. All we know is that Valentine's Day was named for a martyred St. Valentine. Enjoy the day with your Valentine!

02/13/2026

Love is in the air this week. We are over the moon with a Valentine's surprise!
Last summer, the Grundy Center Historical Society had a vintage wedding display with wedding dresses of all eras. We featured some of the couples that were willing to share their wedding photos with us and interviewed them in a "When Harry Met Sally" format. They shared their love stories with us, and we are happy to share them with you! We hope everyone's love stories can be as long-lasting as these couples'.
Our last couple in this series is John & Mary Doak. Who would have guessed that a serendipitous encounter on Grundy Center's main street would turn into a lifelong union of 68 years. What an amazing legacy!

02/12/2026

Love is in the air this week. We are over the moon with a Valentine's surprise!
Last summer, the Grundy Center Historical Society had a vintage wedding display with wedding dresses of all eras. We featured some of the couples that were willing to share their wedding photos with us and interviewed them in a "When Harry Met Sally" format. They shared their love stories with us, and we are happy to share them with you! We hope everyone's love stories can be as long-lasting as these couples'.
Today's couple is Dave & Cherie Souhrada. For both of them, they feel they had another chance at love, at it’s lasted 34 years so far!
What’s their secret? They don’t know, but, "really, we just fancy each other."

02/11/2026

Love is in the air this week. We are over the moon with a Valentine's surprise!
Last summer, the Grundy Center Historical Society had a vintage wedding display with wedding dresses of all eras. We featured some of the couples that were willing to share their wedding photos with us and interviewed them in a "When Harry Met Sally" format. They shared their love stories with us, and we are happy to share them with you! We hope everyone's love stories can be as long-lasting as these couples'.
Today's couple is Doug & Neva Jordan. Seven years after they were married, Doug and Neva moved to Grundy Center. Neva was hired as a high school business teacher and Doug was finishing up accounting courses at UNI. That was in 1976. They loved this community from the first visit, and that hasn’t changed. Neva says, "It was the second-best decision I ever made. The first? Saying “yes” to Doug Jordan 53 years ago."