Blast From The Past August 20, 2025

130 Years Ago

August 23, 1895

The game of base ball at Hemingford last Saturday between the St. Matthew’s Choir club and Junior Nine of that village resulted 47 to 22 in favor of the Alliance club. Those witnessing the game speak very highly of the orderly conduct of the boys, and say that no swearing or quarreling marred their enjoyment.

125 Years Ago

August 24, 1900

Few visitors to the Red Light saloon could probably “see snakes” if they wanted to, but all may make the acquaintance of a live Cinnamon bear. Bruin is very docile, was secured by Mr. Armstrong, from Denver, being captured in the Rockies, and is about three months old.

120 Years Ago

August 25, 1905

The Sheridan Cowboy base ball nine arrived today on No. 42 on their tour east, and will play Alliance a series of three games, commencing this afternoon. Games will be played Saturday and Sunday also. The Alliance boys have a task to play even with the Sheridan bunch, but the fans here believe they will be able to make a good showing.

115 Years Ago

August 23, 1910

Messrs. Wilson and Purdy, who were here last week in the interest of the Nebraska Telephone Co., making certain changes with a view of improvement of the service and in connection with the company’s systems, returned east.

110 Years Ago

August 24, 1915

The five suits against the city of Alliance for alleged damage to property on upper Box Butte avenue, owned by William Bigness, Al Wiker, Enoch Boyer, Ralph Worley and Glenn Miller, were filed Monday afternoon in the district court. The several claims aggregate $6,600.

105 Years Ago

August 24, 1920

On Wednesday, September 1, Alliance people are going to have one of the greatest opportunities ever offered them to purchase some of the finest building lots in the city – at figures that bid fair to leave not one lot unsold at sundown of that day.

100 Years Ago

August 25, 1925

Much interest has been manifested lately in the proposal for a municipal swimming pool for the people of Alliance.

95 Years Ago

August 26, 1930

A brand new tire was stolen from the Ford sedan of Otto Snyder last Sunday evening between 9 and 9:30 o’clock while the car was parked between Third and Fourth street on Box Butte avenue.

90 Years Ago

August 23, 1935

Local fire “fans” are warned again this week that they must not park their cars at a fire so as to block the hose line to the nearest hydrant and they must stay back from the scene of action to give firemen a large open radius around the burning building in which to work.

85 Years Ago

August 23, 1940

Harry Duval, farmer living seven miles northwest of Alliance, was the recipient of the ninth free milking Shorthorn cow given away each Friday afternoon by Alliance merchants.

80 Years Ago

August 24, 1945

C. J. Fuhrer, manager of the Alliance Creamery, said today that the factory’s refrigeration units were put back in operation Thursday, after having been out of service six days as a result of the fire which originated in the basement of the factory building containing the institution’s 700 lockers.

75 Years Ago

August 24, 1950

Parking meters – which took their first bite out of local motorists today – also provided a big topic of conversation. Once professional man called the machines “Alliance’s city picket fence.”

70 Years Ago

August 26, 1955

Russell Hughes, of Colorado Springs, Colo., pleaded guilty in County Court this morning to a charge of “concealing stolen property with intent to defraud the owner.” He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and costs.

65 Years Ago

August 23, 1960

Alliance may get its answer Wednesday on a proposed home for the aged at Chimney Town. Dr. August Hoeger, founder and general superintendent of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, Inc., visited Alliance Monday to look over the city and take a brief survey of the Chimney Town Project which has been proposed as the location for a Good Samaritan senior citizen’s home.

60 Years Ago

August 23, 1965

Box Butte County’s 40th annual Fair which concluded Sunday was a record breaker. It was estimated that 7,000 watched the colorful parade on Saturday. After the parade 5,000 crowded into the grounds.

55 Years Ago

August 26, 1970

Pre-vocational training for students in the 7th and 8th grades of the City Schools, the raising of the price of school lunches and grade school milk, and the readiness of buildings for the opening of school just two days away were the main business of an Alliance board of education meeting here Tuesday evening.

50 Years Ago

August 23, 1975

Much more action was seen Friday at the special car lot sale at the Alliance Livestock Auction Co. Many buyers were on the seats and bidding quite readily as 1,926 cattle were sold. Cattle went to Iowa, Illinois and eastern Nebraska with a good share moving into the North Platte valley.

45 Years Ago

August 22, 1980

Box Butte County commissioners Friday morning granted Public Defender Dean Forney’s request for an additional $300 and approved a $2.35 million budget after an hour long public hearing at the Courthouse.

40 Years Ago

August 24, 1985

A 77-year-old Alliance woman was injured when the automobile she was driving was struck by a semi-trailer truck, according to a spokesperson from the Nebraska State Patrol.

35 Years Ago

August 23, 1990

At about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday clouds which may have looked ordinary to the casual observer rolled into an area northwest of Alliance. Charles Esmeier, weather service specialist at the National Weather Service in Alliance, was expecting something more severe. He said conditions under the clouds were extremely unstable.

30 Years Ago

August 26, 1995

The Alliance Park and Tree Board will have help in improving Laing Park from an unlikely source – the Girl Scouts of America. Brianne Baker, Lisa Sanders and Niki Shimek, Girl Scout Gold Award hopefuls, will renovate the southwest corner of the park near 18th Street.

25 Years Ago

August 24, 2000

The Greenspace Project is a program that the Alliance City Parks Department has been emphasizing for some time now. Funding for the program comes from the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum project. “We will be planting 314 trees and shrubs,” Kara Nelson, Alliance City Parks supervisor, described.

20 Years Ago

August 25, 2005

Experienced craftspeople use technology to prevent unexpected breakdowns on locomotives, which power as many as 100 trains rumbling through Alliance every day. BNSF Railway and ALSTOM Transport dedicated the railroad’s latest Reliability Center at their Alliance locomotive maintenance facility yesterday with local dignitaries, staff and media representatives.

15 Years Ago

August 24, 2010

John J, 20, Alliance, has been bound over to Box Butte District Court on a Class III felony charge of burglary. According to court documents, between July 27 and July 30, John allegedly broke into the residence of Andrea H with the intent to commit a felony, or to steal a game system, game cartridge and a laptop.

10 Years Ago

August 25, 2015

Alliance area residents as part of an ongoing scam, have been receiving fraudulent phone calls by individuals purporting to be with the Internal Revenue Service. Ox Butte County Sheriff Tammy Mowry emphasized yesterday, after already handling several complaints, that the calls are a scam and they IRS does not operate that way.

5 Years Ago

August 26, 2020

Ross Herstedt, a bus driver for Alliance Public Schools, can add the word hero to his resume after saving a Denver man from drowning at Lake Ogallala this past weekend.

*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher