Historic places in SW Nebraska

Susan Doak

Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society

If you asked my husband, he would tell you that they could move the Empire State Building to a point along U.S. Highway 6 and 34 and I probably wouldn't notice it when I am driving. Probably true, for while he notices everything, I am a point A to point B driver and if it isn't on the pavement, it's not on my radar.

Consequently, some wonderful historic markers throughout our area have escaped my attention, that is, until I was researching a place in Decatur County called Station 16, a shelter for travelers on the Leavenworth and Pikes Peak Trail.

This trail was established to move people and supplies from Leavenworth, Kansas, to Denver, Colorado, in 1859, answering a transit problem created by the Gold Rush. The trail, running along first the military road to Fort Riley, then angling northwest to the Republican River to near Benkelman, Nebraska, and following the river before cutting across country to Denver, had 25 stations approximately 30 miles apart. A historical marker of the trail can be found at Stratton, Nebraska.

Hitchcock County has four registered historic places, but the one that caught my attention is a bridge on a county road two miles east of Stratton. Twenty feet long, the reinforced concrete slab bridge was built in 1908 by the Ideal Cement Company and is distinguished by the fact that it is the earliest documented example of concrete bridge construction in the state. Before the reconfiguring of U.S. Highway 34, this bridge once carried interstate traffic and is believed to have been designed by the Nebraska State Engineer.

Speaking of bridges, Furnas County's Cambridge State Aid Bridge (@ 1914), is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Located on Highway 47 just south of Cambridge spanning the Republican River, this concrete structure was built by the Lincoln Construction Company, one of five bridges in Nebraska built by the company on the register. Despite the fact that a state engineer after inspecting one of the bridges found that "the workmanship as a whole decidedly poor" and recommended suspending payments until remedied, the bridge is in use today 100 years later.

Did you know we have an archeological site that dates back to 50 AD in Red Willow County? Not open to the public, the Doyle Archeological Site is proclaimed to be one of the finest examples of Woodland Culture of our area along the Republican River valley. Archeologists working the site found a Woodland house floor and artifacts (mostly pottery) that when submitted for radiocarbon testing, showed inhabitants from 50 AD to 550-600 AD. Woodland Culture is known for the first "bow and arrow" type chipped projectile points and a hint of actual planting of crops by early plains tribes.

Why have I never noticed "Pinkie's Corner" located near Imperial, Nebraska? Listed on the National Historic Landmarks of Nebraska, Pinkie's Corner sets on the Road 323/ Highway 6 junction and is the business site of C. Roy Elvis "Pinkie" Hedges. Hedges, a handyman and inventor, operated his enterprise in the 1920s-30s, leaving behind many of his inventions and a site that is an example of early rural auto roadside business. Pinkie also had a vast knowledge of electricity and aided the community as rural electrification was established.

One of our Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society members and genealogy researcher, Sherrie Dack, in conjunction with McCook Community College, will be teaching "Genealogy Basics and Beyond" on Saturdays, from April 11 through May 2. Registration is available by calling (308)-345-8122. This class is sponsored by SW Nebraska Genealogy Society.