130 Years Ago
August 2, 1895
Fred Smith was unable to be at the store for a few days the first of the week, and called upon Will Cole for assistance.
125 Years Ago
August 3, 1900
Work on the Times building is progressing nicely, Contractor Betzold having it ready for the second store floor just two weeks after the brick work was commenced, and therefore having been laid off two or three days during that time for various reasons. The front of the building is something different from any in Alliance, and greatly admired by many.
120 Years Ago
August 4, 1905
Mrs. Luther Cook entertained a number of her lady friends Wednesday afternoon, the occasion being in honor of her birthday. Dainty refreshments of ices, fruits and confections were served.
115 Years Ago
August 2, 1910
Mrs. Ida Marshall of Red Cloud, Neb., remits for another year’s subscription to the Times.
110 Years Ago
August 6, 1915
At the office of Judge Berry, at 1:20 this afternoon, that official joined in the bonds of wedlock Arnold Peerinboom and Blanche Birdsell both of Alliance. The young couple were ordered to be married by Judge Roberts this morning after they had been convicted of disorderly conduct in one of the local rooming houses.
105 Years Ago
August 6, 1920
Sheriff Jim Miller and Chief of Police Oscar Reed are making Alliance a very uncomfortable abode for numerous “knights of the road,” who continue to flock here as uninvited and unwelcome guests of the city. A few days ago the two officers started a regular cleanup campaign against the “vags” and results have not been slow in coming.
100 Years Ago
August 4, 1925
The Alliance ball club retained their lead in the Western Nebraska league by defeating Hemingford Sunday on the latter’s diamond by the score of 8 to 3.
95 Years Ago
August 5, 1930
A large posse of officers are scouring the hills in the rough country this side of Bridgeport in an effort to locate a strange masked man who has been conducting holdups in the vicinity of Alliance during the past two nights.
90 Years Ago
August 6, 1935
A park improvement program which will require the labor of upwards of 26 Alliance men each month and which calls for a federal WPA expenditure of $20,540 and $4,336 in city funds during the coming year has been submitted to the district Works Progress office by the city.
85 Years Ago
August 2, 1940
Aided by a lot of obliging people who left their cars parked for the night without removing the ignition keys, three glib youngsters – two boys and one girl – led nearly all of the highway patrolmen in western Nebraska, plus two sheriffs, a wild chase through all of Wednesday night and escaped with their fourth stolen car.
80 Years Ago
August 3, 1945
Alliance retailers were reminded this week by E. E. Ranney, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, that their full cooperation will be necessary if a resolution they adopted requiring solicitors to secure permission to solicit is to be effective.
75 Years Ago
August 5, 1950
Les Livingston, manager of the municipal swimming pool, is quick to take a hint. During Wednesday afternoon’s hot spell just ahead of the brief rain, a couple of the lifeguards engaged in a water fight. As such things do the affair soon spread to include everyone, lifeguards and spectators alike. Anyone unlucky enough to get close to the fight was unceremoniously dumping into the pool, clothing and all.
70 Years Ago
August 5, 1955
The Alliance Retail Liquor and Beer Association Thursday night confronted the City Council with this problem: How many doors of a liquor or beer establishment should customers use? In a letter to the council signed by 10 beer and liquor retailers, the association asked the city to pass an ordinance requiring customers to use only the front door – not the back or side doors.
65 Years Ago
August 5, 1960
Final report on retail trade from the 1958 Census of Business for Nebraska just issued by the U. S. Department of Commerce indicates that retail trade in Box Butte County and the City of Alliance increased at a rate somewhat higher than the state average.
60 Years Ago
August 5, 1965
Authorization papers were received Tuesday by Box Butte County Civil Defense Director Clyde W. Lawson of Hemingford, establishing a complete pre-positioned Civil Defense Emergency Hospital at Alliance Municipal Airport. The hospital will be operated for the entire county should an emergency arise.
55 Years Ago
August 5, 1970
Alliance’s downtown section was a busy place this morning with the opening of a two-block street carnival and a sidewalk bazaar. All participating merchants have bargains lined up in front of the stores for the Fun Days, which run through Saturday.
50 Years Ago
August 2, 1975
This year is the golden anniversary of the Box Butte County Fair. Final plans for the event have been completed and activities get underway on Sunday, Aug. 10. Headlining the night shows will be LeRoy Van-Dyke on Friday night and J. D. Sumner and the Stamps with Jerry Kelly on Saturday night.
45 Years Ago
August 2, 1980
Alliance firefighters have been busy this week preparing for the annual North Platte Valley Volunteer Fireman’s Water Tournament, scheduled for this Sunday in Mitchell. Eighteen teams from fire departments throughout the Panhandle are signed up to compete in the contest which includes hose changing, coupling and cellar nozzle events.
40 Years Ago
August 2, 1985
The decision has been made. The flashing four-way stop light at Tenth Street and Black Hills will soon reappear. In what appeared to be the most controversial item of the Alliance City Council agenda Thursday night, the council was asked by a group of concerned residents to re-install the light mostly because of the safety of children.
35 Years Ago
August 3, 1990
The Village of Hemingford was left without power for about two hours Thursday afternoon as a result of a severe thunderstorm which rumbled through Box Butte County. Lightening apparently struck a “breaker” southeast of Hemingford which caused problems with the power being fed into the Village of Hemingford by Panhandle Rural Electrical Membership Association (PREMA).
30 Years Ago
August 4, 1995
Due to the increase in people traveling though Alliance, three motels are adding to their present facilities and two new motels are being built. The new motels will be Days Inn and Heartland Pointe.
25 Years Ago
August 3, 2000
Joshua T, 18, of Alliance was found guilty by jury trail Tuesday in the Box Butte County Twelfth Judicial District Court of resisting arrest, a Class-IIIA felony; operating a vehicle to avoid arrest, a Class-IV felony and willful reckless driving, a Class-III misdemeanor.
20 Years Ago
August 4, 2005
The City of Alliance announced today they have terminated the Real Estate Sales Agreement for the purchase of the Bank of the West building at the corner of Box Butte Avenue and Third Street. The City was intending to use the facility for a new city hall.
15 Years Ago
August 5, 2010
Anyone wandering through Central Park on a recent evening might encounter an unusual sight – fairies dancing in a ring, Mark Antony eulogizing Julius Caesar, Romeo wooing Juliet, or Hamlet ordering Ophelia to a nunnery – as the Main Street Players Community Theater prepares to bring Shakespeare to life at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7.
10 Years Ago
August 3, 2015
On Wednesday, the Alliance Public Library will host the annual Gage Edwards Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The drive is special for two reasons – it marks the 10th year for the event, and it will be the first Gage’s brother, Beau, will hopefully donate.
5 Years Ago
August 5, 2020
In order to follow the guidelines set forth by Governor Pete Ricketts in his Directed Health Measures, the Box Butte County Fair is planning to host a reverse parade on Saturday at 10 a.m. People who wish to attend will be asked to sit in the grandstands while floats and entries are asked to line up along the street east of the fairgrounds.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher