In 1908 John Harrop, originally from Roca, Nebraska, filed a homestead claim just west of the Calamus River about thirteen miles north of Taylor in Loup County. Harrop acquired 640 acres under the Kinkaid Act of 1904, which had been passed to encourage settlement in the Nebraska Sand Hills. By 1912 Harrop operated a mercantile store and the Harrop post office at his home.
In the mid-1920s Harrop and his son Roy, an Omaha attorney, were leaders in organizing the Calamus Irrigation District. This public operation planned to build a dam on the Calamus River to provide irrigation and promote the growing of crops such as sugar beets. In 1927 Roy Harrop platted and dedicated a townsite named Harrop about one mile south of here, and a few buildings were constructed.
Meanwhile opposition to the irrigation project led to a series of court battles and in 1929 the Nebraska Supreme Court dissolved the irrigation district. John Harrop died in 1932, along with his dream for the town and the irrigation project. Today nothing remains of the remains of the Harrop townsite.
]]>Settlement promoted by the Kinkaid Act of 1904 was directly responsible for the establishment of Valleyview, originally called Riverview. In February 1912 Walter Hesselgesser and Earl Cronk opened Valleyview Store, which included a grocery, living quarters, lunch room, lodging rooms, and gas station. A community hall was located on the second floor. A post office opened in 1914. By the 1920s the village consisted of several residences, a livery stable, a garage, a blacksmith shop, and School District 17 which was moved to Valleyview in 1916. The post office closed in 1937 and the store in 1939 due to decreasing population and better transportation and roads in the area.
On October 16, 1940, Sheriff George Brock of Taylor was murdered at Valleyview by John Birkes. He had come to serve an eviction notice to John and Willard Birkes, who had brought their nephew Richard to town to register for the draft. A chase, utilizing an airplane, resulted in the trio's eventual capture and imprisonment.
The site of Valleyview is now part of the Valley View Flat Recreation area at the Calamus Reservoir.
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