WE'RE OPEN FOR VISITORS

The Marketplace is open weekends from the first weekend in May until the first weekend in December. Hours are 10:00am - 5:00pm, Saturday and Sunday. We do have public restrooms.

SPECIAL TOUR INFORMATION

Individual tours - Anytime that we're open--Free

School Tours - Students can step back in time almost eight decades by visiting our restored classroom complete with old style desks, chalkboards and classroom memorabilia. Teacheres are welcome to actually teach their students in our classroom and we'll even provide an old fashioned dress for her to wear. We need one-week notice for school tours. We charge $2.00 per student with free admission for teachers and adult sponsors. We will provide students with a knick-knack as a souvenir of their experience and a snack as well.

Group Tours and Motorcoach Tours with ten or more people -- Anytime during regular hours and with one day advance notice at other times -- Call for fees

Group or Motorcoach Tours and Catered Homemade Meals - One week advance notice -- Call for fees

ON TOUR

You can browse around our beautiful country store, restored classroom or tearoom. We will also give you a "heritage tour" of the old schoolhouse and talk about the colorful history of the community and region.

Five farm women and their families operate a retail country store in an old parochial schoolhouse-listed on the National Register of Historic Places - in the historic hamlet of St. James. The community is the oldest in Cedar County and one of the oldest in Nebraska, serving as the first county seat back in 1856.

This Marketplace includes homegrown, locally raised, farm fresh food. Including fruits and vegetables in season, home-raised meat and poultry, eggs and other farm products. Over sixty regional vendors also market their homegrown and handcrafted products through the Marketplace. You'll find handwoven rugs, handcrafted woodcrafts, religious articles, blankets and dishtowels, handiwork, toys, dolls, homemade soap and pillows, lawn ornaments, birdseed and feeders, lotions, candles and much more. We even have homemade jams and jellies, pies, cookies and candy, cakes and bars! There are books by local authors and cards featuring local scenes. If you want to put a face with your food or get to know the folks who create our fine gifts, our Marketplace is the only place to shop.

We have a tearoom where you can enjoy a piece of homemade pie and coffee or you can visit our restored classroom to take you back to your good old school days. Our beautiful auditorium serves as a fine setting for our gifts, but also as a backdrop for special events like catered meals, workshops and Christmas programs.

PRODUCTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE

With over sixty local vendors and locally raised food and farm products for sale at the Marketplace, you can find almost anything you need. From locally grown fruits and vegetables (in season), locally raised, drug-free or grass-finished beef, drug-free pork, poultry and eggs, honey, jams and jellies from local wild fruit and shelves of home-baked bread, pies, cakes and cookies are all available.

The Marketplace offers handwoven rugs, handstitched quilts, blankets, pillows, baby blankets, crocheted crafts, handcrafted wood products and religious articles, locally grown birdseed, birdfeeders, soap, candles, lawn and garden ornaments. We also sell books from local authors, cards and framed prints from local photographers as well.

With advance reservations, we can cater a home-cooked meal for large groups in our large auditorium. Our fees are reasonable and the food is always good!

OUR HERITAGE

The Marketplace is located in the historic Sts. Phillip and James Schoolhouse, built in 1918 by the famous local architect, Henry Stuckenoft. The stucco, Spanish mission style building housed the community's parochial school from 1918 until it closed in 1968. It was maintained by the Catholic parish of Sts. Phillip and James parish as a community center. When the parish dissolved after 97 years in 2000, five farm women purchased the building and opened a farmers market and rural retail country store there the following summer.

OUR FAMILIES

The Marketplace is operated by a core committee of five St. James farm women including Jeanette Pinkelman, a lifetime area farmer, mother and producer of homemade soaps; Louise Guy, the author of a book about the Wiseman Massacre Tragedy; Violet Pinkelman, farmer and wood crafter with locally grown wood products; Vicky Koch, farmer and professional photographer who creates greeting cards with her own photo images; and Mary Rose Pinkelman, farmer who makes jams and jellies from local wild fruit. .

MARKETPLACE EVENTS

April 30 - OPEN FOR THE SEASON

Sept. 25 - Sunday all day - Heritage Fest old time farming demonstrations, kids games and competitions like sack racing, two-person log sawing, frying pan toss, apple eating, pie eating, steam engine demos, hand picking corn, grading and grinding and much more!! Admission $2.00