On May 10, 1944, an instructor pilot and a student pilot were flying a BT-13B "Valiant" aircraft back to the Bruning Army Air Field after a training session. At the same time, a P-47D "Thunderbolt" fighter, whose pilot had been…

On September 8, 1944, P-47 "Thunderbolt" fighters from the Bruning Army Air Field conducted training attack maneuvers with two formations of B-17 "Flying Fortress" bombers from the Sioux City Army Air Field. When one P-47…

The Ohiowa Auditorium, completed in 1940 and preserved in near original condition, is one of several Nebraska buildings constructed by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. The WPA, a federal government relief program,…

Many immigrants in Glengary Township and the surrounding area were Catholics of Czech and Irish descent. During the early years few priests were available, so they visited the community whenever possible beginning in 1874. Local parishioners…

Stockholm Lutheran Church and Swedish Cemetery, located one mile south and one-half mile west of here, recall the Swedish-American heritage in Nebraska. In the early 1870s Swedish immigrants began settling in Bryant township, Fillmore County,…

Fairmont Army Air Field, located 3 1/2 miles south, was one of eleven army air force training fields built in Nebraska during World War II. The 1,980-acre field provided final training for the 451st, 485th, 504th, and 16th Heavy Bombardment Groups…

Construction began on the Fairmont Army Air Field September 17, 1942. Located east of here, it was one of eleven built in Nebraska during World War II. The 1,980-acre field began as a satellite of the Topeka Army Air Base. Early in 1943 the name was…

The Fairmont Creamery Company was incorporated March 29, 1884, as a stock company by Wallace Wheeler and Joseph H. Rushton. This building was the original office and the creamery was half a mile east of town. From a small, part-time business, the…

The first settler in Exeter Township, Fillmore County was Warren Woodard, who built the first house in 1870. The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, building westward, determined Exeter's location in 1871. The town was laid out by the…

One of the most spectacular and harrowing events in the history of the Great Plains was the Blizzard of January 12, 1888. Other storms had produced colder temperatures and greater amounts of snow. It was the combination of gale winds, blinding snow,…

The first homesteads were filed in 1866 by William O. Bussard and William C. Whitaker along the West Fork of the Blue River. Mrs. E. A. Whitaker, the first white woman, came in 1867. The first white children, Emma Whitaker Hall and Authur Dixon were…