130 Years Ago
January 10, 1896
Mrs. F. W. Lester has been out of town for a few days.
125 Years Ago
January 11, 1901
A meeting was held Tuesday night at which members of the city council, board of education and citizens discussed the smallpox situation, and considered the advisability of opening the schools and declaring the embargo against all public meetings suspended. A number of citizens are said to favor this, but from the best information available we are inclined to think it will not be done yet for awhile.
120 Years Ago
January 9, 1906
The delicate job of putting in the glass for the Rumer front was accomplished Saturday without accident or breakage. This is the only business building in Alliance of which the front is made almost entirely of glass, even the corners being mitered glass. It will make a splendid show window, as there is practically nothing to obstruct the view of the public from the outside.
115 Years Ago
January 13, 1911
Thomas Dile was taken in charge yesterday morning at an early hour by the city officers. A few days ago a card was received by the Alliance officers, giving the description and photograph of a man by the name of Thomas Dare, who attempted to rob one of the banks at Deadwood, and shot one of the officers, inflicting a painful, but not serious, wound. Dile, the man who was arrested here, bore a striking resemblance to the guilty man, both as to general appearance, height and clothing.
110 Years Ago
January 14, 1916
For the first time in the history of the city, contractors have come to learn that they must comply with the terms of their contract for city work. Evidence of this was had at the meeting of the council when a contractor’s bill was cut from $58.33 to $36.94.
105 Years Ago
January 11, 1921
A man’s voice from the county jail, screaming and howling as if the owner were in great distress, caused “Bill” Mounts to sprint up two flights of stairs three at a time Saturday afternoon to inquire into the cause of the commotion. “What’s the matter with you?” Inquired “Bill.” “Why, I want to get out of here and go home – right now. I’ve got to be home by tonight, sure,” quoth S. J.
100 Years Ago
January 12, 1926
The Harvester company proposes to sell machinery to farmers and take its pay in corn at the rate of $1 a bushel. That’s an interesting step, a great improvement on days when corn was burned by the farmers in place of coal because they couldn’t get as much as 20 cents a bushel.
95 Years Ago
January 13, 1931
Praise for its steady progress in many ways is given the city of Alliance in an article in the Nebraska Municipal Review, organ of the Nebraska League of Municipalities. It calls attention to the many improvements that have been made in Alliance during the past few years, especially the past four or five; and its large increase in population in the past ten years.
90 Years Ago
January 10, 1936
The band of gypsies who swindled an Alliance man and woman out of about $1,700 on the night of July 4 and immediately disappeared may yet be brought to trial, authorities learned today. Word was received from a state police officer at Los Angeles that a group of gypsies camped there recently may be the same bunch that operated here.
85 Years Ago
January 10, 1941
For the first time in the city’s history an almost complete record of names, dates and inscriptions on memorials in the municipal cemetery has been compiled. The work, which is beiong carried out as a Daughters of the American Revolution project by two Alliance school teachers, has been underway now for nearly six months.
80 Years Ago
January 11, 1946
“The more acceptable places we can supply for families to live, the faster Alliance will grow,” declared a local realtor in commenting on the advisability of continuing the federal housing project. “Fear was expressed when the FHA housing project was launched, that it would result in a lot of empty houses as soon as the air base closed, but now we can see how smart it was.
75 Years Ago
January 11, 1951
It’s A Small World After All Department: L. H. Dahlgren, a longtime resident of Alliance, has met only two men in 31 years whom he knew in his old outfit in France during World War I. Dr. A. L. Burchell, who moved to Alliance recently had never met one of the old outfit. Wednesday, Dahlgren and Dr. Burchell saw each other on a local street and, lo and behold, they had served together in the 89th Division.
70 Years Ago
January 11, 1956
Deposits in Alliance’s two banks are down more than $1,000,000 since a year ago but this area probably is better off financially than any other sector in the state. Alliance deposits are consistently among the top half dozen communities in Nebraska.
65 Years Ago
January 12, 1961
Two Box Butte County road improvements have been approved for federal aid on the Nebraska secondary road system. They are an 8-mile stretch from Berea north to Highway 87 and a 3.7 mile cutoff connecting Highways 385 and 2 south of Alliance. Both will be graded to federal specifications and graveled.
60 Years Ago
January 10, 1966
Jim Thimsen, 35, Rapid City, S. D. trailer manufacturer, expects to open his new Alliance plant in the near future, he said on a visit here Saturday. He will move his entire operation from Rapid City to Alliance, and plans to build travel trailers, pickup campers and mobile homes here. Name of his firm is the Thimsen Manufacturing Company.
55 Years Ago
January 12, 1971
Cupid’s arrow missed its mark last year in Box Butte County, or perhaps some residents just didn’t cooperate because the number of marriage licenses issued was down from a year ago. According to figures released today by the Box Butte County Judge’s office, 90 marriage licenses were issued in 1970 compared with 107 in 1969.
50 Years Ago
January 9, 1976
Timothy Wegenast was the pilot of a single engine plane, belonging to Don Air Service, which was damaged while landing at the Alliance Airport at 8:10 Thursday morning. Wegenast was not injured.
45 Years Ago
January 10, 1981
A new diversion program, developed to keep first offense juvenile offenders out of the court system is considered, by those involved in the program, to be a well planned and workable alternative to the juvenile court system.
40 Years Ago
January 11, 1986
The lack of an answer on the part of Pioneer Airline officials caused the Denver-based airline some headaches late Friday afternoon at the Alliance Airport. Members of the Box Butte County Sheriff Department took possession of one of the company’s airplane after acting on an execution authorized by the county court.
35 Years Ago
January 11, 1991
After 21 years of working at the Good Samaritan Health Care Center, Eleanor Dill, 68, retires at the end of January. From the time she was old enough to go to work, before she was married, Mrs. Dill sought to show people she cared.
30 Years Ago
January 12, 1996
Keno profits since the game began last June are close to what Alliance City Manager Bret Jones expected. He said the city is on track for raising $110,000 annually to be used for community betterment.
25 Years Ago
January 10, 2001
Farmer’s Co-op Elevator at Hemingford was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for alleged safety violations, and a $158,750 penalty was proposed.
20 Years Ago
January 10, 2006
Keep Alliance Beautiful, Inc. was awarded three grants totaling over $54,000 for 2006 from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality’s Litter Reduction and Recycling Grant Program. Altogether, the state received 63 applications requesting more than $1.98 million for litter reduction and recycling projects.
15 Years Ago
January 11, 2011
At an informative community meeting regarding the Alliance High School Performing Arts Center addition, Superintendent Dan Hoesing announced that, after about five weeks of a fundraising campaign, there is $103,000 pledged, with $78,000 collected.
10 Years Ago
January 12, 2016
Much like humans, pets don’t like to spend any more time in the freezing cold than they have to, and it’s up to their owners to ensure they are taken care of when the temperature drops. Perhaps the most important is adequate shelter. This includes insulated doghouses; while the igloo-style houses are convenient, they do not provide enough protection.
5 Years Ago
January 13, 2021
On Saturday evening, officers with the Alliance Police Department responded to the report of a juvenile male sustaining a gunshot wound. Officers responded to the call in the 1500 block of Toluca Avenue at approximately 7:03 p.m. and began their investigation.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher