Excerpt taken from the Southeast Nebraska Visitors' Guide

Wilber is a small but unique ethnic community located 36 miles southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska. Wilber is known as the Nebraska Czech Capitol and is proclaimed the USA Czech Capitol.

Wilber was named for C.D. Wilber, who gave the land to build a city. It was platted in 1873, and grew to be a community of Czech immigrants. It is the county seat of Saline Co., and is located at the intersection of Highway 41 and 103.

Over the years, the Czechoslovakian heritage has continued to be passed down through the generations. Many residents still speak the language fluently and many more are familiar enough with the language to greet you in Czech on the street. Many Old World traditions are still practiced and observed today, even by Wilber's youngest residents.

The community of Wilber places great importance upon these traditions as evidenced in the decorated store fronts, declaring the business in the Czech language and painted in traditional colors. A new mural depicting the Czech heritage is located on the west side of Barnas Drug. The entire downtown district is being considered for nomination to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The downtown business district boasts two Czech specialty meat markets, a traditional Czech bakery, and a drug store and flower shop that feature garnet jewelry, Czech glassware, and Czech gift items.

Wilber has a wonderful Czech Museum featuring many articles and artifacts of early immigrant life in Wilber. They also have many Czech items for sale. The museum is open daily from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., except Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Easter.

The Czech Craft Shop on Third Street, in the center of the business district, makes and sells Czech costumes. The volunteers still hand-embroider the beautiful patterns on the vests, blouses, and aprons. They also make several colors of skirts and have long sleeve and short sleeve shirts and vests for the men. They also feature magnets, note cards, books, and a lot of special gift items. They are open from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The winter schedule is Saturday afternoons from 1-4 pm.

Flowers are a very important part of the Czech heritage. Light poles draped with flowers and barrels filled with flowers line the city streets. The parks boast beautiful flower gardens, tended by volunteers, and many private residences showcase spectacular flowers gardens, as well.

Another important part of the Czech heritage is the music. The first thing that greets you as you arrive downtown, is music filling the air, it plays on main street every day. Polkas, marches and symphonies from the great Czech composers all contribute to the unique atmosphere in Wilber.

Along with the music are traditional Czech dances. The Beseda, a strictly-timed group dance, is a special feature that is often performed for visiting groups. Over the past year, 85 young people have spent much time learning the traditional polkas, Beseda, and other group dances.

The community of Wilber hosts the annual Wilber Czech Festival, held the first weekend of August each year. This colorful festival features traditional Czech food, music, dancing and hundreds of people dressed in colorful Czech costumes. This festival draws about 40,000 visitors each year and is one of the biggest ethnic festivals in the state of Nebraska. Special features include the National Czech Queen Pageant, BIG parades on Saturday and Sunday, biergartens, performances by the Alumini Band and fun for all ages.