In 1879 Hall County purchased 160 acres at this location where the county’s paupers could live and work in exchange for shelter, clothing, food, and medical care. In March 1881 part of the Poor Farm property was set aside as a cemetery for those who died while in the county’s care and had no other place of interment. No records reveal the names of the estimated ten to twenty individuals who may be buried here. The Poor Farm closed in 1919.
]]>A branch camp of the Atlanta Prisoner of War Camp was located in Grand Island during World War II. Over 300,000 Axis prisoners of war were held in America during World War II. In accordance with the Geneva Convention, these prisoners were often hired out to local farmers and businesses to replace the labor positions vacated by the war effort. To make working away from camp easier, branch camps were established around the base camps. Prisoners would be transferred from the base camp to the branch camp, where local employers would seek them out for different projects. Branch camps were usually located in existing structures. On July 9, 1944, Leo B. Stuhr of the Hall County Non-Stock Coop Labor Association announced that a branch camp would be created at the Dodge School in Grand Island. Twenty prisoners were sent to the school building to prepare it for the other prisoners. After it was ready for housing, about 100 POWs from Camp Atlanta stayed there to work in potato and beet fields Structural concerns about the building caused military leadership to close the camp. The commander of Camp Atlanta called the building a “fire trap.” Another branch camp was built near Grand Island. Known as the Hall County “Cornhusker” Camp (though officially known as “The Cornhusker Labor Detachment”), the camp was attached to the Grand Island Ordinance Plant. Since the plant produced ammunitions, prisoners were technically forbidden to work there, as the Geneva Convention banned POWs from working in directly war-related industries. As such, the details of the camp were kept secret. At one point, some of the POWs began to strike, but most of them did not protest; they figured every industry was related to the war effort in some way, so they might as well get their food and money. About 350 POWs worked there.
]]>Here is a section of an original Seedling Mile on the Lincoln Highway. It was completed November 3, 1915. Grand Island was the second city in the United States to build such an example of concrete roadway. The original Seedling Mile extended from the corner of Willow Street one mile east, ending near the Seedling Mile School.
By 1913 the route of the Lincoln Highway had been chosen and dedicated nationwide by the newly formed Lincoln Highway Association. The association's main goal was to develop a paved, toll-free, transcontinental highway from New York City to San Francisco. To help meet this goal, the association conceived the Seedling Mile program. Seedling Miles would be the "seeds" from which paved roads would extend across the nation.
The Seedling Mile was constructed with locally donated cement and funds. Fred W. Ashton of Grand Island raised $1,170 for the project. Realignment of the highway in 1931 allowed this section to be preserved. It is the only remaining original section of a concrete Seedling Mile that has not been widened or covered with asphalt.
]]>Designed by Omaha architect Thomas Rogers Kimball (1862-1934), the Hall County Courthouse is an exceptional example of Beaux-Arts classicism and borrows on Germanic design sources. Constructed of brick accented with limestone, the building features a domed interior rotunda with a central skylight. It was completed in 1904 at a cost of $131,793. Originally housing all county offices, the courthouse is now used by the district and county courts. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
]]>The first Grand Island airport, a grass field, was located approximately 1 1/2 miles south of the present terminal building on land owned by H. O. "Doc" Woodward. It was used by the Grand Island Aero Company, organized in 1919 by former World War I pilot Floyd B. Thompson. The city took over the airfield in 1928. United Airlines began air service in 1933 using the 1/2 mile-long sod runways for its Boeing 247s.
On September 27, 1937, Arrasmith Field was dedicated on 640 acres north of the original field in honor of Dr. W. W. Arrasmith, who was instrumental in arranging the necessary financing using Department of Commerce, W.P.A., and city funds.
In 1942 the U.S. Government assumed control of the airfield for army air forces training, expanding it to 1,920 acres and 173 buildings. During World War II, 3,500 airmen, including those from the 6th, 502nd, and 376th Bombardment Groups, trained here in B-17 and B-29 heavy bombers. The airfield was returned to the city for civilian use in 1948 and is now operated by the Hall County Airport Authority.
]]>On August 17, 1943, a B-17F bomber from Kearney, Nebraska, Army Air Field crashed 300 yards south, killing all aboard. The plane was on a routine training flight before going overseas. Losing their lives were 2nd Lt. Sylvester J. Diebold, Benton, MO; 2nd Lt. Ernest H. Endemano, Los Angeles, CA; 2nd Lt. John F. Hickey, Port Henry, NY; SSgt Jimmie McEntire, Wharton, TX; SSgt Albert Pivkul, West Warren, MA; Sgt. Cyril B. Butler, Crooksville, OH; Sgt. James V. Pollicita, Bridgeport, CT; and Sgt. Frank E. Sampler, College Park, GA.
]]>The Big Bend of the Platte River in central Nebraska is one of the most important staging areas for the spring migration of the world's largest population of sandhill cranes. Throughout history the Platte has also been a corridor of migration for native peoples and Euro-americans. For both cranes and humans, the river has provided water, food, and shelter in a sometimes harsh environment.
No one knows when sandhill cranes appeared on the Nebraska landscape. Their remains have been found in nine-million-year-old deposits in western Nebraska and in prehistoric and historic Native American sites throughout the central plains. The journals of explorers and fur traders such as Edwin James (1820), John Townsend (1834), Rufus Sage (1841), and John J. Audubon (1843) mention sandhill cranes they observed while traveling up the Missouri River or along the Platte.
Settlement of the Great Plains brought many changes to the Platte. Irrigation reduced its volume, and its shorelines and islands became overgrown when prairie fires and floods were controlled. Only the Big Bend region still provides prime habitat to sustain the annual migration of sandhill cranes.
]]>The "Old Fort Kearny" or "Nebraska City Road" was a major route for freighters, soldiers, and goldseekers between 1849 and 1866. The road was also known as the "Oxbow Trail," because it looped north from the site of Old Fort Kearny (future Nebraska City) to follow the south bank of the Platte River. It connected with the main overland trail a few miles east of New Fort Kearny.
Nebraska City freighters first used the Old Fort Kearny Road in the late 1850s to supply western military posts and mining camps. By 1861 a more direct route, the Nebraska City-Fort Kearny Cutoff, was opened. The cutoff joined the old Fort Kearny Road five miles northeast of here.
Overland freighting reached its peak in 1865 when more than 44 million pounds of supplies were shipped from Nebraska City. The completion of the Union Pacific Railroad across Nebraska signaled the end of freighting, but local settlers continued to use the Old Fort Kearny Road for many years. Today, Hall County's "Platte River Road" follows the old trail through the county.
]]>Between 1844 and 1866 thousands of emigrants, gold seekers, and Mormons moved west through the Platte Valley. The first settlers along Wood River 1858-60 operated road ranches to serve travelers. They included Patrick, Richard, and Anthony Moore; James Jackson; and a Mormon, Joseph E. Johnson. In this immediate vicinity was Jackson's store, opened about 1864, and Moore's Ranche. Johnson's Ranche, also known as Wood River Center, was at the present site of Shelton, Nebraska.
The original town of Wood River, named for the tree-lined river directly north, was platted around a station established here by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1866. Jackson moved his store to the settlement, and a log Catholic Church and settlers' school were built by 1869.
In 1874-75 the Union Pacific platted the present town of Wood River about three miles east. The station, post-office, and Jackson's store were placed on skids and moved to the new location. In 1990 only St. Mary's Cemetery and the District 5 school marked the original townsite.
]]>Near here are graves of pioneer whites caught up in the conflict between native Americans and white settlers. On July 24, 1867, Indians attacked the home of Peter Campbell near here. Campbell and his eldest son were helping a neighbor with his harvest. The Indians, Sioux and Cheyenne captured two of Campbell's daughters, aged 17 and 19, and his twin sons, aged four. A nine-year-old daughter escaped. The Indians killed Mrs. Thurston Warren at her home a half mile away and wounded one of her children.
In mid-August of that year, the Pawnee Scouts, led by Frank North, fought a Cheyenne band near Plum Creek and took a woman and a boy prisoners. The boy was a nephew of Turkey Leg, a Cheyenne Chief.
A month later, a meeting was held in North Platte between a government peace commission and Sioux and Cheyenne leaders. Turkey Leg recognized Major Frank North, commander of the Pawnee Scouts, and offered to exchange some white prisoners for the two Indian captives. The children were exchanged unharmed in late September, 1867, at North Platte. The following spring the Campbell family moved east to Saunders County for safety.
]]>The Lincoln Highway Association, formed in 1913 to build a New York-to-San Francisco highway, sold "highway memberships" to raise funds for the project. In Nebraska the road, which traversed twelve states, extended westward from Iowa along the Platte Valley route earlier used by emigrants, and followed the mainline Union Pacific Railroad into Wyoming.
The section of highway east of Grand Island was started in December, 1914, and an experimental paved mile was completed in 1915. Here, near the center of the transcontinental route, work began quickly because of strong public sponsorship. As the road was built, it was marked by red, white, and blue banded utility posts, three to a mile. In 1928 three thousand concrete markers were erected, each bearing a bronze medallion of the head of Abraham Lincoln.
Completed in 1927, the Lincoln Highway, the prototype transcontinental route designed for automobile traffic, stimulated highway improvement. It later became federally marked U.S. Highway 30. In the 1950-1960s Interstate 80 was built to carry east-west traffic through Nebraska. Though I-80 parallels the Lincoln Highway route in many counties, the older route continues as a part of the federal highway network.
]]>You are near the Platte River's famous Grand Island. It is approximately forty miles in length and two miles at its widest. Providing abundant wood and water, it often served as a campsite for Pawnee Indians. Journalists for the expeditions of Astor (1813) and Stephen Long (1819) both noted the island. In 1843 John C. Fremont recommended that a fort be constructed near the head of the island. Fort Childs, later named Fort Kearny, was established in 1848 as the first military outpost on the Platte River portion of the Oregon and California trails. The Mormon Trail ran adjacent to the island along the north bank of the river.
In 1857 a town company composed mainly of Germans settled the area north of the island. This first Grand Island failed to develop when the company became bankrupt. Present Grand Island was not platted until 1866, when the Union Pacific Railroad reached Hall County. The town grew rapidly and became the county seat. In 1869 a U.S. General Land Office was established to record land filings for the region north of the Platte. Grand Island was incorporated in 1872, and it has become a major industrial and agricultural city in the central Platte Valley.
]]>You are near the Platte River's famous Grand Island. It is approximately forty miles in length and two miles at its widest. Providing abundant wood and water, it often served as a campsite for Pawnee Indians. Journalists for the expeditions of Astor (1813) and Stephen Long (1819) both noted the island. In 1843 John C. Fremont recommended that a fort be constructed near the head of the island. Fort Childs, later named Fort Kearny, was established in 1848 as the first military outpost on the Platte River portion of the Oregon and California trails. The Mormon Trail ran adjacent to the island along the north bank of the river.
In 1857 a town company composed mainly of Germans settled the area north of the island. This first Grand Island failed to develop when the company became bankrupt. Present Grand Island was not platted until 1866, when the Union Pacific Railroad reached Hall County. The town grew rapidly and became the county seat. In 1869 a U.S. General Land Office was established to record land filings for the region north of the Platte. Grand Island was incorporated in 1872, and it has become a major industrial and agricultural city in the central Platte Valley.
]]>On February 25, 1944, a B-17G bomber from the Grand Island Army Air Field crashed half a mile east of here on the Langenheder farm, killing nine aboard. The Grand Island base served as a training location for aircrews prior to their leaving for overseas. The B-17 was on a training flight in the early morning hours, crashing shortly after takeoff and sliding in the field before impacting a berm next to an irrigation ditch and exploding.
Losing their lives were 2nd Lt. John T. McMillen, Cleveland, OH; 2nd Lt. Kenneth E. Pierce, Brownsville, VT; F/O Alfred R. Flock, Boise, ID; S/Sgt. Glen M. Cox, Newport, KY; S/Sgt. Donald J. Vitale, Crockett, CA; Sgt. John M. Robertson, Atlanta, GA; Sgt. Stanley S. Sala, Cohoes, CA; Sgt. Lloyd D. McNeil, Somers, IA; and Sgt. Edward Machos, Manchester, NH. Pilot 1st Lt. Howard T. Talbert was the lone survivor.
This marker memorializes the more than 15,500 Army Air Forces airmen who died in nearly 6,350 air crash training accidents in the U.S. during World War II.
]]>Religious freedom, an American ideal, has on occasion been denied certain sects because of prejudice. Mormons were once persecuted and forced from their homes. The north bank of the Platte River served as the exodus route for thousands of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Driven from Nauvoo, Illinois, Mormon leader Brigham Young led the first migration up this valley in 1847 to found the proposed state of Deseret, now Utah.
During the following two decades, thousands more gathered at Winter Quarters on the west bank of the Missouri River near present Florence, Nebraska, before beginning the trek across the plains and mountains to their land of Milk and Honey. The journey called for strength and courage, as well as faith, for tragedy often stalked their wagons and handcarts, turning this valley into a Mormon "trail of tears." Hundreds of pioneers lie buried along this trail, most in unmarked graves.
After 1860 the overland trail along the south bank of the river was lined with road ranches and stage stations, but the Mormon Trail had few such conveniences, and the pioneer settlements here in Hall County were almost the last vestiges of civilization until the travelers reached Utah.
]]>Pioneer Park, site of the first Hall County Courthouse, honors the courageous settlers who peacefully inhabited this area in 1857 when only Pawnee lived here. In 1866 the Union Pacific reached Grand Island and in 1868 the railroad donated Block 19 for the construction of county buildings. Three years later the county commissioners requested that General Grenville M. Dodge, agent and trustee of the railroad, exchange the property for Block 84 where this park is located.
Special elections were held in 1872 wherein bonds totalling $20,000 were issued for construction. A two story courthouse with a clock tower was completed June 28, 1873 at a cost of $16,500. In 1901 a special election voted bonds for a new courthouse and other county buildings. When the new structure was completed in 1905, the original courthouse was razed.
Four elections were held from 1902 to 1905 to authorize the sale of this block, but dedicated work by the Women's Park Association maintained this site as a memorial to Hall County pioneers. In 1964 action was brought to construct a new postoffice on this land and a 1970 election was held to locate a new library here, but the park was preserved on both occasions.
]]>The general Indian uprising of 1864 centering in the Platte Valley caused great loss of life and property among the early settlers. The area of one of the most dramatic events associated with this outbreak is marked with a stone monument three miles south of here. There, on a day in August, 1864, George Martin, an ex-English jockey who had come to Hall County in 1862, and his two young sons, Nat and Robert, were loading hay in a field near their homestead. Suddenly they were attacked by a small band of Sioux Indians. While the father attempted to ward off the attackers from the wagon with his repeating rifle, the boys jumped on their mare and, riding double, started for home. Pursued by the Sioux, the fleeing pony and her riders became targets for numerous arrows, one of which passed through Nat's body and lodged in Robert's back. Thus pinned together by a single arrow, the boys tumbled from their horse. The Indians, evidently believing that the boys were nearly dead, rode away without scalping them. Robert never recovered fully from his back injury, and although Nat nearly died of his wounds he lived to tell this story to his grandchildren.
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