130 Years Ago
February 7, 1896
Banks Stewart has a new phonograph with opera horn attachment. He invited us over to hear a number of musical selections and we are prepared to say that it works as nicely as any we have ever heard.
125 Years Ago
February 8, 1901
Smallpox is rapidly becoming insignificant in this community. During the past week there has been but one new case- one of the children of Myron Tuttle. Seven persons are now confined in the last house east of town, but three of these will probably be discharged this week.
120 Years Ago
February 9, 1906
A fellow who has been hanging about the streets the past several days handing notes and making advances to young girls, was watched by Sheriff Wiker yesterday and today, and now languishes in the city jail. He will have a hearing in the morning before Judge Ridgell in police court.
115 Years Ago
February 7, 1911
An alarm of fire was sounded this morning at about four o’clock. The blaze was in the rear of one of the houses in the southeast part of the city. Company number one from the fire department quickly responded, but their services were not needed. An empty oil can was found nearby, and it was thought by some that the fire may have been set by some unscrupulous person.
110 Years Ago
February 11, 1916
The city provided a license of $10 per year for each vehicle used as a dray. One hotel man hauls trunks for hire but he has never paid a dime for license and the city has received complaint regarding this oversight. He will be asked to pay the fee or give up the dray service.
105 Years Ago
February 8, 1921
Box Butte county, in the not distant future, may lay claim to boasting of one of the comparatively few multi millionaires of the entire country. Wilbur Rockhold, a young farmer living six miles south and eight miles west of Hemingford, is reported to be one of 57 heirs to a quarter section of land which is now in the heart of New York City and valued at between $180,000,000 and $200,000,000.
100 Years Ago
February 9, 1926
H. B. Alter bought the interest of Paul Baer in the Baer-Alter Shoe company of Alliance and will operate the business in the future under his own name. The deal was closed Monday afternoon. The store was started three years ago with Mr. Alter the active manager and it has shown a nice increase since that time in handling fine shoes in an exclusive store for men, women and children.
95 Years Ago
February 10, 1931
Forged cream checks are floating around. Three of them were passed in Alliance during the past two days. They were forged checks of Kirsch-braun and Son of Crawford. Most of the checks were for around $11. The checks have come back to the merchants who took them and were marked “no funds.” Piggly Wiggly, Safeway store and Fourth Street Market received some of these forged checks.
90 Years Ago
February 7, 1936
Winter launched a lashing attack on Alliance and western Nebraska again today with continued sub-zero temperatures and flurries of powdery snow which was being whipped about the streets by a bitterly cold wind. The temperature dropped to 23 degrees below zero in Alliance early Thursday morning, the lowest temperature here for at least 10 years.
85 Years Ago
February 4, 1941
After an absence of more than 18 years from the business district of Alliance, Edwin M. Burr returned this week to join the staff of The Times-Herald. He will be remembered as the younger of the Burr brothers, who operated The Alliance Herald for nearly three years, and sold their newspaper to the Times in 1922.
80 Years Ago
February 8, 1946
The American Legion will be hosts at a big reception and dance for World War II veterans, their ladies or escorts, at the municipal auditorium on Friday night, March 1. Music will be furnished by James Caten’s nine-pieces dance band of Omaha, one of the best dance bands available anywhere.
75 Years Ago
February 7, 1951
Some people seem to have all the luck. An out-of-town visitor to Alliance Monday evening found himself feeling more than a little gay from overindulgence in spiritus frumenti. As the gayness wore off, early in the evening, he was overcome by a great urge to sleep. He stopped at a house he saw, went inside, took off his shoes and went to bed.
70 Years Ago
February 10, 1956
Alliance television boosters learned today how high a TV tower is necessary at Scottsbluff to beam strong signals here. From a plan equipped with very high frequency radio, messages were transmitted to Alliance from over the 30-foot tower now being used by station KSTF-TV.
65 Years Ago
February 10, 1961
The arrest of two 24-year-old Alliance men apparently has cleared up the burglary of the Box Butte County sheriff’s office the night of January 31. The arrests followed an investigation of the break in by Sheriff Matt Berg and City Police.
60 Years Ago
February 9, 1966
Supt. Of Schools Marven Rosen told the Alliance Board of Education Tuesday evening that good progress is being made with a survey to determine the need for “special education” classes in the Alliance City Schools. The classes would be in such subjects as speech therapy and remedial reading for slow learners.
55 Years Ago
February 11, 1971
A Box Butte County district court jury of six women and six men began deliberations at mid-afternoon today in a stabbing case with Larry K. C., 20, as the defendant. The young man is charged with stabbing Mrs. Vera I. R. at her home here on Dec. 19, 1970, “with intent to wound, maim or kill.”
50 Years Ago
February 4, 1976
The amount of power generated at the Alliance power plant and water pumped from city wells has steadily increased in the past three years, a sign of increased population, industry and irrigation.
45 Years Ago
February 7, 1981
The Burlington Northern Railroad terminal set an all-time record here Thursday as 100 trains moved through it in a 24-hour period – from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. According to Dick Frazier, terminal manager, there were 50 arrivals and 50 departures recorded. This aggregated a total of 9,130 cars with each train averaging 91.3 cars, according to Frazier.
40 Years Ago
February 7, 1986
The Alliance Volunteer Fire Department quickly doused a potentially dangerous fire Thursday afternoon when the fast-moving blaze did and estimated $30,000 plus damage to a house in East Alliance.
35 Years Ago
February 9, 1991
Steve Sorum, project specialist for the Nebraska Ethanol Authority, spoke about the advantages and improvements in the ethanol industry Monday at the Alliance Rotary Club meeting. Sorum, an Alliance native, said, “The Clean Air Act will have a huge impact on the future of ethanol.”
30 Years Ago
February 7, 1996
The 40th annual Stars of Tomorrow talent contest will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, February 25, at the Alliance High School auditorium. The Kiwanis Club of Alliance sponsors the annual event. Contestants must be enrolled in kindergarten through 12 grade in a public, private or parochial school in Alliance or western Nebraska.
25 Years Ago
February 8, 2001
The first fire-alarm system to be installed during the 85-year history of the Box Butte County Courthouse will be brought online this month. Nebraska Safety and Fire Equipment began writing the system during the last week of January. The county commissioners approved the North Platte-based company’s $16,584 bid during their Nov. 20, 2000, meeting.
20 Years Ago
February 6, 2006
On Sunday, at about 3 a.m., two Alliance Police Officers responded to a hang-up 911 call in the 2600 block of Big Horn Avenue. Alliance Police Chief John Kiss said the call was originally a disturbance call. Upon arrival, according to an Alliance Police Department news release, officers contacted a 27-year-old male who attacked the officers with a knife.
15 Years Ago
February 8, 2011
City of Alliance Community Development Director Rick H resigned Monday, Feb. 7. His resignation effective immediately, however, he will continue to be available on an “on call” basis until the end of March.
10 Years Ago
February 12, 2016
Young children and their families lit up the dance floor Tuesday evening for a family dance hosted by Northwest Community Action Partnership. Ninety students of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs were in attendance along with their families.
5 Years Ago
February 10, 2021
An early-morning structure fire on Thursday that sent two people to the hospital was determined to be intentionally set. On Feb. 4 at 6:33 a.m. the Alliance Fire Department responded to a report of smoke coming from the basement of a home located in the 1100 block of Platte Avenue.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher