130 Years Ago
May 29, 1896
R. D. Hessey was in the city yesterday. He says that he is building about fifteen miles of fence. It will be a very substantial one, as the posts are only one rod apart, and three wires.
125 Years Ago
May 31, 1901
Alliance has a ball team this year, and don’t you doubt it. They were able to chase Scottsbluff crack team around the diamond last evening to the tune eight and two, and came very near shutting out the visitors entirely.
120 Years Ago
June 1, 1906
The public is here given notice that C. A. Spooner is no longer in the employ of this paper. Like many another man of brains and ability, he has shown during a residence in Alliance of one week, a weakness for booze making his services valueless in this office.
115 Years Ago
June 2, 1911
A tourist lineman tried a financial stunt one day this week by using the name of Manager Kemmish of the City light, Water and Power department. A couple of checks were filled and the signature forged. The fellow succeeded in cashing one of these at a saloon, making his getaway with $10. At the present time he has not been heard from.
110 Years Ago
June 2, 1916
A cloud of funnel shaped proportions passed over Alliance at four o’clock Thursday morning coming from a southwesterly direction and after passing over the business sector of the city it soon returned and disappeared to the south.
105 Years Ago
June 3, 1921
Attracted by the “glare and glitter” of Palmer Brothers’ circus which showed here Wednesday, Early Brown, a weak-minded youth of Manhattan, Kan., followed the show from Manhattan to Alliance and was arrested here Wednesday night by Sheriff Miller, following the receipt of a telegram stating the young man’s condition and asking that he be picked up and returned to his home.
100 Years Ago
June 4, 1926
The new electric switchboard and distribution panels, one of the most modern electric units in the west, is being installed at the city light plant by Superintendent Carl Rockey and two factory men. They expect to cut over the new board within a week and when this is done the power will have to be shut off for a few hours to enable the workmen to handle the high voltage.
95 Years Ago
June 2, 1931
His lemon-colored roadster held; facing trial on a liquor charge next week; having his house burn down Saturday; arrested again yesterday on a charge of assault. All these are the scrapes that involve “Barbecue” Charley Moore, barrel-shaped character of south of the tracks fame.
90 Years Ago
May 29, 1936
Chief of Police Laing Wednesday morning investigated a disturbance caused by an African lion, “as long as a big truck,” that was roaring defiance to the world at the rear of the Lager Inn cafe on West Third Street. The lion was getting excited and threatening to destroy the cage in which he was kept.
85 Years Ago
May 30, 1941
On June 24, if all goes well, a blessed event is scheduled to take place at the Alliance Creamery hatchery that is quite a little out of the ordinary for western Nebraska – the hatching of a pair of five pound ostrich eggs. The eggs were sent to Ralph Zebarth as a birthday present from his mother who lives at Los Angeles.
80 Years Ago
May 28, 1946
The National Park Service and the federal Fish and Wildlife Service will survey Box Butte Dam late this fall to determine what steps are necessary to install fishing, recreation and wildlife facilities, it was learned here today in a letter from the Bureau of Reclamation.
75 Years Ago
June 2, 1951
They Maynard Taylor’s had an evil night Thursday. Their dog disappeared and the daughter and father went in quest of the pooch. The night was cold and damp and the looking was anything but comfortable. The dog reappeared, however, during the search, dry, warm and contented. Father and daughter fared not so well.
70 Years Ago
June 1, 1956
Trash burning became illegal today in the city’s commercial zones south of Ninth Street. The city will begin enforcing the ordinance passed recently by the City Council. Burning of trash is legal in residential sections if attended by a person at least 18 years old.
65 Years Ago
June 3, 1961
One hundred lawyers are expected in Alliance Friday and Saturday for the annual meeting of the Western Nebraska Bar Association. The visitors are expected from as far east as Lexington, Broken Bow and Valentine. The Box Butte Bar Association is sponsoring the meeting and all sessions will be held at the Elks Club.
60 Years Ago
June 4, 1966
The Alliance Museum board met Friday evening and new displays and plans for future work were discussed. Mrs. Derrick Dalton has loaned her display of 43 dolls, dressed as the various U.S. presidents’ wives to the museum for the season.
55 Years Ago
June 2, 1971
A locally severe hail and thunder storm caused some crop damage in the Alliance area and put telephone and some power service out of order early today – the storm began at about 1:30 a.m. With it came 1.22 inches of moisture, the heaviest in Nebraska in the previous 24 hours.
50 Years Ago
June 2, 1976
Building permit figures for May, released this week by the City of Alliance Building Inspector’s Office, showed a large jump in construction activity here last month with 53 permits issued for construction with a total estimated cost of more than one million dollars.
45 Years Ago
May 30, 1981
The Alliance municipal pool makes its annual attempt at cracking the Guiness Book of World Records today when the doors are opened for a free day of swimming and sunning. Look for modern day records in any number of categories. Such as: Most people per square foot of water. Most tubes of suntan lotion used in a single day. Most times using the phrase “don’t run” in an eight hour period.
40 Years Ago
May 30, 1986
An explosion rocked North high School Wednesday morning as students filled the hallways between classes. A homemade bomb planted in one of the lockers in the freshmen hall was responsible for the blast. No one was injured but two juveniles have been arrested in connection with the incident.
35 Years Ago
May 31, 1991
Hemingford High School and gymnasium saved taxpayers $3,726 over the last two years as a result of making dollar and energy saving building improvements. The improvements included new windows and storm windows in the high school and ceiling and wall insulation, new lighting and automatic setback thermostats in the gym.
30 Years Ago
May 31, 1996
No record
25 Years Ago
June 2, 2001
Box Butte General Hospital received a $25,000 grant earlier this week from the Ronald McDonald House Charities for a state-of-the-art CT Scanner. The machine, a Marconi Mx8000 Dual scanner, has the ability to image large volumes of a patient’s anatomy quickly and contiguously in a spiral configuration, offering 3-D views.
20 Years Ago
June 1, 2006
Summer break for the school children is here, the pool is open and the circus is coming to town. The 38th Tehama Shrine Circus is expected to thrill audiences of children as well as the adults. Jeff Plunkett, advanceman for the James Christy Cole Bros. Circus, said that the circus has visited 25 cities and towns in Nebraska so far.
15 Years Ago
May 31, 2011
The City of Alliance has proposed a new Community Vision: “To Build the Best Hometown in America.” The vision, developed nearly three months ago, consists of 17 goals and a Mission Statement, or vision, for the community. City Manager J.D. Cox commented that the vision comes “from the community, for the community.”
10 Years Ago
June 1, 2016
As the weather warms up you are sure to notice more classic cars cruising the streets with the driver smiling ear to ear as people admire the car driving by. Classic cars often take people back to a time when they were younger or a time when they owned a car just like it. Every spring come rain or shine the park fills with cars and their owners who give the public a glimpse into the past.
5 Years Ago
June 2, 2021
The Big Red Blitz presented by FNBO is set to return on Wednesday, June 16, with Husker coaches and athletic staff members visiting 20 cities and towns across Nebraska. FNBO is the official Bank of the Husker Nation.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher