130 Years Ago
October 11, 1895
A carload of Mike Elmore’s mules that were used in grading the irrigation ditch were shipped here Monday. He has completed his contract. When turned in the water covered the mile and 700 feet in seventy-two minutes.
125 Years Ago
October 12, 1900
H. M. Merrill’s five-year-old girl was the victim of a singular accident at their restaurant this week, and it is feared will cause the loss of an eye. By the slamming of a screen door a screw flew and struck her in the eye.
120 Years Ago
October 13, 1905
The remainder of the cement walk in front of the Norton building was laid yesterday. It won’t be long until that will be the only kind allowed on Alliance business streets.
115 Years Ago
October 14, 1910
Considerable excitement was caused this morning subsequent to the arrest of R. McFall by City Marshal Martin. McFall was at the Alliance cafe, being drunk and disorderly, and having things pretty much his own way. A telephone call brought the marshal promptly to the scene and McFall was taken in charge and headed for the lockup.
110 Years Ago
October 12, 1915
A small blaze in the Jerry Rowan fuel sheds near the railroad track resulted in a damage of about $35. The quick response of the truck at 1:30 Tuesday morning kept it from spreading. Some difficulty was encountered in getting at the blaze as the coal had to be removed. It started from spontaneous combustion, it is thought.
105 Years Ago
October 12, 1920
A prairie fire, started supposedly by someone hunting on the place, swept over a wide area of meadow on the Hall & Graham ranch, about 14 miles southwest of town, Sunday night, destroying hundreds of acres of grass and approximately 90 tons of hay in stacks.
100 Years Ago
October 16, 1925
The automobile race will start promptly at 10:30 from the depot continuing up Box Butte to Tenth, thence east to the Greenwood cemetery road, north 2 miles to Wessells corner, west to the Chadron road, south to Tenth, and back to Box Butte and finish at Third street. This event will be followed by a slow race for Fords only, in high gear.
95 Years Ago
October 14, 1930
The time limit on the grading contract of nine miles of earth work on the Chadron road near the 16-mile corner expired October 1 and the contract is subject to cancellation. There isn’t any evidence that the job will be completed this winter and if the unfinished grade goes into the winter in its present condition the road between Alliance and Chadron will be a mess until next summer.
90 Years Ago
October 11, 1935
Dennis B. of Alliance will go on trial Monday before District Judge George Irwin at Bridgeport, facing charges of manslaughter in connection with the death of Mrs. Don H., 31, of Scottsbluff in an automobile accident five miles northeast of Bayard last April 21.
85 Years Ago
October 11, 1940
Spuds Given Water Yield 450 Bushels: Fields of irrigated potatoes in Box Butte County are averaging from 350 to 500 bushels to the acre according to reports made this week – the first week of harvest on a general scale over the county.
80 Years Ago
October 12, 1945
Mayor Walier Jones called a meeting of milk producers and distributors at 11 o’clock this morning to determine what can be done to increase the milk supply, or to make a more equitable distribution of what is available. It was decided that the mayor would issue a proclamation calling upon fountains to refrain from serving milk drinks until the city’s babies have first been served.
75 Years Ago
October 12, 1950
Those weren’t stargazers you saw craning their eyes skyward Wednesday afternoon. Just people looking at several large flights of Sand Hills cranes, or geese, or ducks. There seemed to be a lot of difference of opinion about just what they were.
70 Years Ago
October 15, 1955
The Tri-Timers, a guitar-and-singing trio of Alliance youths, will compete in a talent contest Sunday over Cheyenne television station KFBC-TV, Channel 5. Alliance people can help the trio win the day’s contest by sending in a postcard vote to the Cheyenne station. The trio consists of Dough Bedient and Sylvia and Adrian Ethridge.
65 Years Ago
October 13, 1960
A 50-dollar bill was included in the loot from a burglary of the Hemingford Lumber Co. here Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Box Butte County Sheriff Matt Berg said entry was gained by prying the lock on the side door of the lumber yard’s main building. About $125 in cash was taken from the register, he said.
60 Years Ago
October 12, 1965
The Alliance Board of Education took official action at its meeting Monday evening to participate in more federal programs. Action was also taken to begin preliminary steps toward the adopting of a special education program to give aid to “educable children” with lower than average intelligence quotients.
55 Years Ago
October 14, 1970
More than 1,740 Box Butte County home owners will receive a total of $42,747.60 under the new state homestead exemption law, according to County Assessor Alvin Hausmann.
50 Years Ago
October 9, 1975
The eight-year pursuit of Box Butte County irrigationists to keep track of underground water level is nearer to reality with the start of drilling of one of 30 test wells. The long wait brewed a question about funding which has been resolved by the Upper Niobrara White Natural Resource District (NRD) and the Conservation Survey Division of the University of Nebraska that will share the $40,000 cost.
45 Years Ago
October 17, 1980
Merchants To Bring Back Christmas Parade: A Christmas parade and extended hours and days were just some of the events proposed by Alliance merchants at a Christmas promotion planning meeting Thursday night. Thirty-six merchants attended the meeting, and opted to sponsor a Christmas parade on Dec. 4.
40 Years Ago
October 12, 1985
Poor visibility due to heavy fog was a contributing factor in a Friday morning accident that resulted in injuries to three members of the Chadron State College rodeo team, as well as their horses. The group was en-route to Fort Collins, Colo., to compete in a rodeo. The accident occurred at 7:30 a.m. at the junction of Highways 2 and 71, 12 miles west of Hemingford.
35 Years Ago
October 12, 1990
After holding bake sales and other sales, 60 Kmart employees raised $350 to help fund he Handibus program in Alliance. According to Ambrosia Mattock, Kmart employee spokeswoman, they heard that budget cuts would hurt the Handibus programs.
30 Years Ago
October 12, 1995
Five area high school teams traveled to a wheat stubble field 13 miles west of Alliance for the Regional Land Judging. Teams from Kimball, Bayard, Scottsbluff, Gering and Alliance competed in judging four soil sites. The four sites were widely spaced in the field to create as much diversity as possible. The students had to determine many qualities by examining each site.
25 Years Ago
October 10, 2000
Two new law enforcement officers will be patroling Alliance and Box Butte County. Box Butte County Deputy Sheriff J. D. Sutphen comes to the Box Butte Sheriff’s Office with more than 10 years experience. New Alliance Police Department Officer Patrick Connelly is just beginning his law enforcement career.
20 Years Ago
October 13, 2005
Today marks the beginning of a program that teams up the Alliance Volunteer Fire Department with Pizza Hut. Now in its fourth year, the program allows those who live in homes with working fire detectors to be eligible for a free pizza.
15 Years Ago
October 12, 2010
Pending completion of certain agreements related to land development, Pepsi-Cola of Western Nebraska, LLC (Pepsi-Cola) is breaking ground on a new 62,000 square foot distribution center south of the Highway 385 and Highway 2 intersection at Alliance.
10 Years Ago
October 13, 2015
On Oct. 1, Alliance gained a new dining venue, as Luigi’s opened its doors. The restaurant began in Texas, and Nebraska locations also include North Platte and Scottsbluff; the latter location is currently in the process of moving to Monument Mall. Owner Nick Terzia said there were several customers coming to Scottsbluff and commenting they wanted to have such a restaurant in their hometown.
5 Years Ago
October 14, 2020
The Alliance City Council took action at their meeting on Oct. 6 on a project years in the making, with two votes: to sell the former Bomgaars building on Flack Avenue and to award a bid to Fuller Construction to complete a Utility Facility and Public Transit Barn for a total of $1,555,000.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher