Heritage Center - Homestead National Monument of America, Nebraska by Rick Braveheart

Homestead National Monument of America located in Southeastern Nebraska was established in 1936 to commemorate the Homestead Act of 1862. Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, it offered 160 acres of land to anyone who agreed to live on and farm that federal land for five years. While the Homestead Act was in effect (until 1976), over 1.6 million people across 30 states filed claims on 270 million acres of land.

Completed in 2007 the Heritage Center at Homestead National Monument is a multipurpose facility providing exhibits and educational programs about the significance of the Homestead Act in America's westward expansion. Great thought was placed into creating a meaningful building design. For example, since lumber was often scarce, homesteaders constructed dwellings of sod cut by an animal drawn plow. The upsweeping shape of the roof was designed to resemble sod being pushed upward from the ground by a plow blade. Similarly, the point of the roof is aimed directly west to symbolize the Homestead Act's importance in America's westward expansion. The building's entrance also features a "Living Wall" representing the various states where homesteading occurred.

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NOTES ON HOW THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED
Constructed from: 102 images (17 columns by 6 rows)
Field of view: 150 degrees wide by 46 degrees high
Panorama file size: 661 megapixels (48000 x 13772 pixels)
Camera model: Canon PowerShot SD990 IS
Aperture: f/5.8 / Exposure time: 0.002 - 0.005
Focal length (35mm equiv.): 133.0 mm