130 Years Ago
July 19, 1895
Pat Collins’ baby, who was so badly poisoned with caustic potash one day last week, is now convalescing and will recover.
125 Years Ago
July 20, 1900
We were informed by a neighbor of Banks Stewart the other day that his injuries at Deadwood last week from the runaway of his “horseless carriage” were slight. We’re mighty glad to hear it, Banks, but you better not monkey with them pesky things anymore.
120 Years Ago
July 18, 1905
Horizon of Sewerage Possibilities for Alliance Again Shines Forth With the Luster of Sanitary Sweetness and Successful System: Since the public meeting last Thursday evening to consider the feasibility of placing some sort of a sewerage system in Alliance, public expectations and enthusiasm had received something of a backset.
115 Years Ago
July 22, 1910
Some of the trees along the streets need to be trimmed up a little. Some hang so low that ladies have been known to have trouble extracting the plums of their hats from the branches. Anyhow it would look better wouldn’t it if someone would get busy?
110 Years Ago
July 20, 1915
Henry Rust had a very narrow escape from serious accident Saturday night when his Overland car was struck by an infuriated horse driven at full speed by a drunken driver. Mr. Rust was proceeding at a low rate of speed across the intersection of Box Butte and Third when the “Montgomery-Ward” cowboy came down west Third at a prohibitive rate and barely missing a woman and little child, he crashed into the Rust car.
105 Years Ago
July 20, 1920
The dance at the roof garden Saturday night was one of the largest ever held in Alliance. Approximately 400 people were present and over 100 couples were dancing on the floor at one time.
100 Years Ago
July 21, 1925
Alliance golfers won their first inter-city tournament Sunday when they defeated the Chadron players 32 to 6.
95 Years Ago
July 18, 1930
Police Chief Horton has a knack of catching fish that few Alliance men possess. Wednesday morning he brought in a fat black bass which measured over a foot in length and the same evening he went out armed with rod and reel and brought in three more bass similar in size to the one caught in the morning.
90 Years Ago
July 19, 1935
A proposal is being placed before the property owners on Box Butte avenue for a complete modernization of the street lights. The present five-cluster standards were put up many years ago and they are not so efficient as more modern systems.
85 Years Ago
July 19, 1940
Forty-eight members of the Alliance high school band will leave at 8 p.m. Saturday for Hot Springs, where they will make three appearances in marching and in concert in connection with the pari-mutuel race meeting now in progress at that city.
80 Years Ago
July 20, 1945
With collections totaling $380,748.13 and disbursements $423,332.32 the first six months of 1945, Box Butte county had a balance of $282,922.35 in its treasury at the close of business June 30, according to the semi-annual statement made by Treasurer Russell Melick.
75 Years Ago
July 21, 1950
The first wheat harvested on the extensive operation of Floyd Stone, one of the largest growers Box Butte County, averaged between 30 and 35 bushels to the acre. This wheat was cut Thursday in a 60-acre tract 16 miles west of Alliance.
70 Years Ago
July 22, 1955
Gail Claussen escaped serious injury this morning when the Harris Sales Co., truck he was driving went out of control and landed in a ditch five miles south of hay Springs.
65 Years Ago
July 20, 1960
Manager M. J. Graham of the Alliance Chamber of Commerce and Gene Kemper, publisher of The Times-Herald, will go to North Platte Thursday for a statewide meeting designed to obtain more appropriations for state parks and tourist promotion.
60 Years Ago
July 21, 1965
The fifth concert of the summer season by the Alliance Municipal Band will be presented at 8 tonight at the Band Shell. The group is under the direction of Blaine McClary.
55 Years Ago
July 21, 1970
Preliminary 1970 census figures reaching Western Nebraska indicate that Alliance’s population now is 6,767, down 1,078 from the official 7,845 tabulation in the 1960 census. This amounts to a loss of 13.7 percent over the 10-year period.
50 Years Ago
July 19, 1975
The first reunion of the 507th Parachute Regiment since 1948 will have a repeat performance in Alliance next year, according to Peter Wolfe of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Twenty men from the 507th met Friday afternoon at the Drake Hotel and decided to meet again in Alliance July 19, 20 and 21, 1976.
45 Years Ago
July 19, 1980
Alliance Among Several Airport Grant Recipients: The Nebraska Aeronautics Commission approved assistance grants totaling $557,733 Friday for projects at several municipal airports statewide – Alliance, $31,680, runway overlay and fuel farm relocation.
40 Years Ago
July 20, 1985
During a time when the skies were a new frontier and few people had yet to experience the exhilaration of being airborne, Dale Abley was flying his own plane above the Nebraska Panhandle. It was a time when there were few airports in which to land. Wheat fields were the most often used surface for planes to touch down.
35 Years Ago
July 19, 1990
If you don’t like the weather in Box Butte County, just wait a few minutes – it will change. This was the case for county residents who were greeted with a tornado warning Wednesday afternoon, rain when they woke up on Thursday and clearing skies by mid-morning. A severe thunderstorm which rolled through Box Butte County Wednesday afternoon produce three confirmed tornado sightings and numerous funnel clouds within the county.
30 Years Ago
July 19, 1995
During the summer months the Alliance City Parks Department has a large increase in its staff. Most of the new personnel are high school and college students who work in every area of the park system.
25 Years Ago
July 19, 2000
Alliance School Board President Paul Mottl resigned last night to avoid a conflict of interest before the board approved the hiring of his wife, Chris Mottl, as the Alliance High School Mathematics instructor.
20 Years Ago
July 22, 2005
“The Knight Museum and the Knight Museum Partners are sponsoring a fun and exciting event that the whole community can be a part of,” Cindy Zurn coordinator said. “We are going to be attempting a Guinness World Record for the longest baseball game.”
15 Years Ago
July 21, 2010
In September 2009, Jon Worthman, who was the Box Butte County public defender at the time, left his office and took a trip overseas. Worthman recently returned to Alliance on June 24, after spending about 10 months in Northern Nigeria, mainly in the town of Bakura.
10 Years Ago
July 20, 2015
According to the Alliance Police Department call logs, eight vehicles were vandalized over the weekend typically with spray paint. APD Lieutenant Ken Hart said a 17-year-old juvenile female is charged with eight counts of criminal mischief from the incidents, and each vehicle received an estimated $50 damage.
5 Years Ago
July 22, 2020
As students prepare to get back into the classrooms, the Alliance School Board is working to determine the best way to proceed with reopening after closing their facilities in March due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher