Jenner’s Zoological, Educational, and Amusement Park was the creation of Henry Jenner and his brother, Robert Bond Jenner. These young Englishmen left London for Nebraska in the 1880s, making them early pioneers of the area. Originally built about 1900 as a playground for Henry Jenner’s children, Jenner’s Park grew to include an elaborate amusement park, zoo, and museum. It also included a dancing pavilion and baseball field. Rides popular at the park included the Ocean Wave, the Giant Stride, and the Snake Swing. The park featured numerous games, an outdoor theater, and beautiful plants, landscaping, and architecture. The zoo was home to many native and exotic animals from buffaloes and African tortoises to coyotes and monkeys. The Mummy House and museum displayed a rich array of artifacts, including several mummies, collected from around the world by the Jenner brothers. Large crowds flocked to Jenner’s Park each opening day, Independence Day, and during the Fall Harvest Festival. It also drew thousands of visitors from across the state before it closed in 1942. The park area was annexed by Loup City in 1972.
]]>Austin was named in honor of Simeon Austin, a circuit rider. In 1877 the Austin post office was established on the farm of Oliver S. Brown and continued until 1919. The Union Pacific Railroad arrived in 1886; the Austin siding was built halfway between Loup City and Rockville in 1902 and removed in 1985. Although it was never incorporated, Austin had a store, 1906-31; church, 1907-46; blacksmith shop, 1916-19; stockyards and office; grain elevator; corn crib; coal bin; and several homes. Austin Irrigation functioned from 1913 to 1926. Picnics and ball games were held in a nearby grove.
District No. 2, the first rural school in Sherman County, was established on November 15, 1873. After 125 years of serving the Austin community it closed in June 1998 after educating the last eligible student in the district. Austin was the last rural school to close in Sherman County and had been located on three different sites in three different buildings. All that remains of Austin today is the cemetery established in 1886, and located one mile southeast of here.
]]>During the Depression low farm prices, accompanied by dust storms and drought, created unrest among farmers and workers in Sherman County and across Nebraska. The Farm Holiday movement, which encouraged farmers to withhold agricultural products from the market, was active. Representatives of left-wing political groups arrived to promote their own programs for economic recovery. In Loup City the People's Standard, edited by A. E. Brunsdon, endorsed local farmer and worker complaints.
Violence erupted in Loup City on June 14, 1934, after rumors spread that women poultry workers at the Fairmont Creamery plant might strike for higher wages. Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor of the American Communist Party, and a group of associates then in Nebraska, organized a demonstration of support on the courthouse lawn. A march from there to the creamery and back culminated in a clash with local residents. The resulting jail sentences and fines levied upon Mother Bloor and others in her group marked the end of the attempt by the far left to organize farmers and workers in Nebraska.
]]>In April 1873, Headquarters, Department of the Platte at Omaha, ordered a military scout of the North and Middle Loup River Valleys. The detachment of soldiers was commanded by Captain John Mix of Company M, of the Second Cavalry, and guided by Conrad "Little Buckshot" Wentworth.
This expedition was sent out in response to a Sioux Indian raid on settlements some thirty-five miles to the northwest. That action resulted in the Battle of Sioux Creek.
The troops had completed the scout and were returning when they were struck by the terrible "Easter Blizzard," which began on April 13, 1873. For four days, the soldiers were housed by settlers and storekeepers. Their animals were left in a sheltered area alongside this creek. During the storm twenty-five horses and four pack mules were suffocated by snow. The creek has since been known as Dead Horse Creek.
Many similar incidents associated with early pioneer life were commemorated in stream names.
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