130 Years Ago
August 31, 1894
The furniture for the use of the First National Bank in the new building arrived this morning. It was formerly used in the now defunct First National of Hot Springs. It cost $1,400 and is said to be elegant.
125 Years Ago
August 25, 1899
The telephone company is making rapid progress, and expect to have the greater part of the line in working order within the next two weeks, without they are delayed by the failure of the ‘phones or switchboard to arrive. The lines are being extended to all the additions and the company has seventy-five subscribers for ‘phones on the list already, Mr. Harmon informs us. The total number will not be less than 100.
120 Years Ago
August 26, 1904
Business at the land office is not quite so brisk the last few days, but the record for the month of August to date shows 565 homestead entries made. Last month there were 611, and this month will come very close to that figure. There is a large volume of other business accumulated in the office, however, which will occupy the attention of the force for some time.
115 Years Ago
August 27, 1909
Last Thursday morning fire was discovered in the Nohe bakery, but as it had not gained much headway, it was put out without turning the fire alarm in. The fire originated from the chimney, and were it not for the prompt discovery of it the building would soon have been destroyed. The bakery was closed for several days, but is now in full running order.
110 Years Ago
August 28, 1914
Dreams of childhood days when he used to leap from the old loft into a stack of new mown hay, was responsible for Wess Reynolds jumping from train No. 42 when three miles east of Bingham Wednesday night. Mr. Reynolds was peacefully sleeping the chair car, according to his statements to the train crew, when his mind reverted to the scenes of childhood. He saw the old log school house and the old rustic well. He swam with his playmates in the old pool and swiped melons from the Si Perkins patch. From the scenes of rest and quiet his mind traveled to the hay loft where he and the rest of the boys used to jump and play.
105 Years Ago
August 29, 1919
Two hundred money order blanks and a number of registered letters from the Antioch postoffice were found on the streets of Alliance this morning by small boys and they were turned over to Postmaster Graham of the local office.
100 Years Ago
August 26, 1924
Henry G. Renner went through all the major engagements in the World war in France only to meet instant death Monday morning when he was thrown from the back of a gentle farm horse and kicked in the temple by the frightened animal. Renner was 29 years old and is survived by his parents, two brothers and two sisters of Eagle, Nebr., where the body will be shipped for burial. He was a nephew of Mrs. Henry Westlake of Berea.
95 Years Ago
August 27, 1929
Elvere Shafer, 22, ranch hand, was found dead beside his automobile by the roadside near a clump of trees a half mile east of the city on the Tenth Street highway at about 2 o’clock Sunday morning. He had been shot through the head, the bullet entering his right temple and piercing the head. A revolver later identified as Shafer’s was found laying near the body. Authorities who have been investigating the case were led to believe that the young man had taken his own life, but there are a few details that have been discovered that might indicate he met with foul play.
90 Years Ago
August 28, 1934
There is a strong possibility that the CCC camp at Hackberry lake, which has been improving the federal game preserve in that vicinity for the past several month, may be moved to Bronco lake for the winter. The work at the Mumper camp has been completed and the camp will be moved to Red Cloud or Alliance, the definite location being a matter of doubt. The Chamber of Commerce is advancing the local site as the better location for the winter.
85 Years Ago
August 29, 1939
Beer and whiskey bottles tossed into side roads by prairie petting parties have called down the wrath of numerous farmers in recent weeks and they are determined to do something about it. Not that they would deny the lovelorn the privilege of a moonlight rendezvous, be they youths or grandpappies, but they do object to cutting their tires on the broken bottles that are tossed from the open car windows in the spirit of abandon that usually accompanies the trysts.
80 Years Ago
August 2, 1944
The Alliance Army Air Base will be transferred from the First troop carrier command to the Second air force on Sept. 1, Maj. W. D. Strong, commanding officer, has revealed. Maj. Strong, who succeeds Col. Tracy K. Dorsett, said that the Scottsbluff army air field, which is a satellite to the Alliance base, also will be affected by the transfer and will remain a satellite of the field here.
75 Years Ago
August 26, 1949
The intersection of West Third St. and Black Hills Avenue will be made wider to permit heavy trucks to make the turn in and out of the underpass. The city council Thursday night heard City Manager Robert Laing explain that the project to widen Third St. at this spot had met with the approval of the property owners.
70 Years Ago
August 28, 1954
Derald Lewis, 14, of Alliance showed the Grand Champion Baby Beef of the Box Butte County Fair today and received a top price of $41 per hundred—a total of $401.80—for the animal. The winning 980 pound Angus steer, “Bimbo,” was purchased by the Co-Op Elevator of Hemingford.
65 Years Ago
August 28, 1959
The Alliance City Council leased a parcel of land at Municipal Airport to Donald Behm and received a report on Frontier Airline’s boardings and landings here for the month of July at a relatively quiet session Thursday night.
60 Years Ago
August 25, 1964
A bare beginning is underway on the 1965 Box Butte County potato harvest—with activity confined to a new type of “combining” on the Roger and Bob Lehl farm four miles northeast of Alliance.
55 Years Ago
August 28, 1969
Box Butte county farmers are reminded that September 15 is the deadline this year for signing up for all-risk crop insurance on winter whet. Wilfred R. Nelson, district director for the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, from the district office, says many farmers are already signing up for the 1970 crop.
50 Years Ago
August 28, 1974
The total enrollment Wednesday morning in the Alliance schools stood at 1,725 students. This figure includes the three elementary schools, Junior High and Senior High and St. Agnes Academy. Total enrollment for the Alliance public schools is 1,600, and for the Academy, 125.
45 Years Ago
August 29, 1979
Saying that stress and increased work load could lead to unnecessary demands on her health, county clerk Grace Mote offered her resignation, effective Dec. 31 of this year. The announcement came in the form of a letter, quietly hand-delivered to the Box Butte County commissioners during a lull in their meeting Tuesday afternoon.
40 Years Ago
August 28, 1984
In a sun-lit room in the Wacker home, sits Rachelle, 12, at the large wooden table. The room, decorated with plants and floating with soft music, exudes a perfect atmosphere for writing. Writing poetry may be a laughable task for other 7th graders who would never think of writing outside of a requirement for a class assignment, but for Rachelle, writing comes easily and almost naturally. Writing poetry is so much a part of Rachelle’s life that she decided to enter a monthly poetry contest sponsored in “Cricket” magazine. Rachelle received honorable mention in the “Cricket League” international poetry competition for the poem she entered titled, “Cats’ Reading.”
35 Years Ago
August 26, 1989
The Alliance City School district shops for back-to-school time just as students do. And, while students pick up a package of notebook aper here and a few pencils there, the school district must haul 720 erasers here and 140 pounds of rubberbands there—plus a whole lot more.
30 Years Ago
August 26, 1994
The bean harvest has just begun and it is already looking much better than last year, according to Lenny Treinen of New Alliance Bean and Grain.
25 Years Ago
August 28, 1999
Brian Corlett is the new Activities Director at Alliance High School. The position, formerly referred to as Athletic Director and held by Skip Olds, has changed to include the school’s other extracurricular activities in addition to sports.
20 Years Ago
August 28, 2004
Sharon McClaren has been the English as a Second Language instructor with the Adult Basic Education program in Alliance for 10 years. Last year and again this year there is an added dimension to the class. Civics. For an additional class that just emphasizes civics, McClaren is looking for people who already speak English who would be interested in beginning a Citizenship class.
15 Years Ago
August 28, 2009
Box Butte General Hospital is well into its utilization of a relatively new web based service provided by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, with hospital and clinic staff spending the past month inputting data. Called the Nebraska State Immunization Information System the data collection program is a population-based web application containing consolidated demographic and immunization information.
10 Years Ago
August 28, 2014
As summer winds down local entities are finalizing their budgets for the next fiscal year. Box Butte County and the city of Alliance have both cut spending where possible and been wary of adding new expenses. Box Butte County Public Transit has felt the pinch as it attempts to meet local funding percentages.
5 Years Ago
August 28, 2019
Following the review of a cost of service and financial planning rate study contract with Nebraska Municipal Power Pool, the Alliance City Council voted in favor of altering the customer rate for electricity to reflect Alliance’s cost of service.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by staff.