7/26/2023 0 Comments Ghost Towns...Paddock, NE The town of Troy, Nebraska was established in 1874 by Back Berry and Harry Spindler, on a level spot about one-half mile west on the Niobrara River bottom and near where the Eagle Creek/Little Platte Creek empties into it. The pure, soft, spring water was the most valuable asset of this settlement. The sloping shores blended into the level fertile prairie covered with many stands of oak, cedar, elm, cottonwood, basswood, box elder and other trees. For several years the names of the stream, Little Platte and Eagle Creek, were used interchangeably before Eagle Creek became its official name – a name it still carries to this day.
It wasn’t long before J. T. Prouty accompanied by a number of other hardy, pioneer families joined the Berry and Spindler families in their new settlement, which was located 40 to 50 miles upriver from the town of Niobrara, Nebraska located on the Missouri River. As the population of the town increased, a town board was organized. Officers elected were: President, William P. Berry, Secretary, Clinton Santee, and Treasurer, Wm. Astelford. Pleased that they had discovered such a pleasant town site surrounded by the magnificent country, they began making plans for the coming spring and the arrival of at least twenty-five more families. The first item on the agenda was the building and operation of a general store. Next, in the spring, would be a gristmill and a sawmill. S. J. Hoyt, proprietor of the Niobrara sawmill, began work on a mill dam for the town of Troy. In January he reported work on the mill dam was progressing and hopefully would be in operation by spring. Other plans included improvements to the town. With proper care every street in town would be supplied with shade trees watered by the large spring on the bluffs, plus a sufficient supply of water for fire protection. The city fathers eagerly looked forward to a prosperous and beautiful city in the near future. By Marita Placek Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! 888-673-1081
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You are invited to visit The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Betty Strong Encounter Center, a fifteen-acre campus along the Missouri River which is home to a complex which promotes history, culture, entertainment and educational opportunities. This multipurpose site, located in Sioux City, Iowa, serves the tri-state area of Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa, drawing travelers from all compass points across the nation. There are two main entrances and two complimenting aspects of this fabulous facility.
The first structural phase built on this site, The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, opened in 2002 in anticipation of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial: the national celebration that commemorated the exploration expedition of thirty-three men who comprised The Corps of Discovery. By Marci Broyhill Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! 888-673-1081 7/26/2023 0 Comments My Small Town.....Fiction Before I joined the rest of the pallbearers, I stood in line to pay my respects and looked down at the old man in the satin-lined coffin. He was a former Chief of Police in my little piece of Nebraska, and I now wear his badge or at least one similar to it. I am told that the badge he wore for years is in his pocket. I thought they might bury him in his uniform, but I guess I would not want to spend eternity in mine either.
I first met him when I was about thirteen years old. My parents farmed a couple of miles east of town and did so successfully as far as I knew. My best friend was gone for the summer on an extended family vacation somewhere or the other. We would normally hang out together during the summer, so I was on my own. My main form of transportation was my bicycle and it would get me anywhere I wanted to go. Those were different times than they are now. On a warm day I would take off on my bike and sometimes rove for miles, or at least as far as a kid could, and still be home for supper. No one worried about me, there was not much traffic and most of that were locals that I knew and they all waved as they went past. By Brad Kellogg Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! 888-673-1081 7/26/2023 0 Comments A Recreation Showplace Roughly between 1910 and 1970, Northeast Nebraska had one of the premier family recreation spots which drew a crowd from all over the area. Crystal Lake, a 41 square acre body of water a little west of both South Sioux City and Dakota City in Dakota County, boasted all the amenities that even the larger cities did not offer. Several both public and privately owned beaches and facilities lined the shores. At various times Crystal Lake boasted at least two beachside hotels, beach houses, a game arcade, dance floors, a ramp for water skiers to go flying off, and not far away was the Crystal Park Golf Course. In the summer people would come from Iowa, and as far away as Omaha in Nebraska to enjoy the sun, water, and recreation available.
Church groups would hold Bible Conferences near the lake. On one side of the lake were several camps that served the area’s children’s organizations. The Buckeye Camp hosted the Campfire Girls. Camp Leamer hosted both boy and girl scout troops. Many years later those campgrounds would become the Goodwill Camp. Today, The Salvation Army Western Plains Camp occupies 100 acres on that site. By Brad Kellogg Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! 888-673-1081 7/26/2023 0 Comments Prairie Summer Kitchen Amidst twinkling lights–and stars–and vining flowers, women in sundresses and trendy hats smile as they pose for twilight photos together at one of the hottest new attractions in southeast South Dakota: Fleurish Flower Farm in Union County, South Dakota. This half acre flower farm in Richland, just a few miles north of Elk Point and a few miles from the Iowa border, offers “you-pick” events on Wednesday and Sunday nights, and makes it a special occasion for the guests by also inviting musicians to play live, and food trucks to come sell their wares to the hungry flower-pickers. The ladies (and men, who are just as welcome although generally fewer in number to attend) laugh with their friends and enjoy the beautiful rainbow of flowers available at Fleurish Flower Farm. They then head to the heart of this flower farm to arrange their chosen blooms: a summer kitchen more than a century old.
Owner Christy Heckathorn bought the property with her husband to expand their soybean operation, and initially wasn’t sure any of the existing structures could be saved. The house couldn’t be–it was razed. The barn couldn’t either, and it too was torn down, but the Heckathorns saved the barn doors, and lovingly use them as backdrops for photos at private events. But one outbuilding was still in great shape: the summer kitchen. The summer kitchen in Union County was originally built in the late 1800s and used later by an intermediate owner, Thelma Kalstad well into the 1990s. By Lindsay Hindman Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! 888-673-1081 7/26/2023 0 Comments Fur Farms...Enola, NE PHIL RAASCH was just a little shaver when he settled down on a bar stool at the Rabbit Hutch Café, near the hamlet of Enola, Nebraska. Men were crowded around nearby tables, with a cold mug of Schlitz beer at their elbows, dealing black queens from a Sheephead deck, or tossing pennies on the table in hopes of a winning hand of poker.
Nice women, it was said, never frequented the place. Raasch remembers those days in the 1930s well. He tagged along with his father and was always on the lookout for peanut wrappers: once he had collected enough wrappers he sent them in for an official Planters Peanuts bracelet, a treasure of no mean value. Even though he is now in his 80s, Raasch still keeps his under lock and key. By Larayne Topp Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! 888-673-1081 |