Visiting South West Nebraska from UK (Lincoln, Kearney: houses, upkeep, store)

[BereniceUK]

Some fascinating small towns - Arthur, Ogalalla, Imperial - but what about the surrounding countryside? Is it going to be mostly flat and dull apart from Lake McConaughy?

Is there anything at Berea (north of Chappell) other than the church and cemetery?

I was just going to be passing through the area but I've found so much of interest that I'm now looking at staying locally for 2 nights in Ogalalla and Imperial.

[roots'nbulbs]

Yes. Mostly flat, but vast. A matter of perspective. You might enjoy little, tiny Paxton, late in the afternoon for Big Ole's and the winery.

[Gunluvver2]

You might want to do a little bit of research into the ranches in the area that were owned by Englishmen during the 1850's to the early 1900's. The Range wars that took place in Eastern Wyoming and Western Nebraska involved a few of your countrymen. There are some great stories from that time period. Visits to some of the local Museums or newspaper archives should be interesting. If you get to Lincoln the Nebraska State Historical Society has a huge collection of Nebraska newspapers going back to the 1860's.

GL2

[Off Pavement]

I'd like to suggest you visit Pioneer Village in Minden as you are passing thorough the state. If you go, plan on spending most of day if you can as there is so much to see.

Pioneer Village

From Minden you could head west on US Highway 6 & 34 following the Republican River to Cambridge and the location of Medicine Creek State Recreation Area. This lake is described on the Nebraska state tourism web site as Nebraska's most beautiful lake.

If you follow Medicine Creek to the north through the towns of Stockville, Curtis, and Maywood, you will be following an old Indian trail used by the early US Calvalry including George Armstrong Custer of "Custer's Last Stand" fame. This route has numerous hills and valleys and of course farm land. Heading north through North Platte, the Union Pacific Railroad has an interesting tourist visitor center at the largest railroad yard in the world.

Bailey Yard Visitor Center Information

Other than Pioneer Village and North Platte, the route I described to you isn't filled with tourist destination locations, just pretty country with an interesting history. You will find most small towns such as Cambridge and Arapahoe for example have wonderful town museums, often only asking for a donation to help pay upkeep of the buildings the collections are housed in.

Enjoy your Nebraska experience!

[BereniceUK]

Thanks for the responses. Provisional schedule - I'll be driving from Denver up to Pine Bluffs WY and then east through Kimball and Sidney on the 30 (Highway?) to Chappell, up to Berea, and then on to Ogalalla where I'm thinking of staying one night.
Second day, on to Roscoe (Paxton is a possibility), up to Arthur and down to Imperial to stay the night there. And the next day back to Denver via Benkelman and St Francis KS.
Lots of small town photo opportunities for me! Arthur is going to be one of the highlights of my US visit - the only church in the world built of bales of straw.

Many thanks for the info on Minden, I'll keep Kearney County in mind if I return to Nebraska sometime.

[Gunluvver2]

BereniceUK,
Here is a link to a collection of newspapers published in the United States from the 1800's to current day. The Library Of Congress plans on having every newspaper that they have in their archives available on the Internet in the next few years. There are actually newspapers archived from the time when King George was the B.M.I.C (Big Man In Charge). I warn you though this site can become habit forming and if you work full time it can interfere with sleeping time.

Chronicling America - The Library of Congress

GL2

[Off Pavement]

With your schedule, here is one more idea for you. In northeast Colorado, you might enjoy the Pawnee Pioneer Trails Scenic Byway. An area most travelers don't see, and here is the official site for information about it...

USDA Forest Service, Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, Pawnee National Grassland - Recreation Activities - Scenic Drives - Canyon Lakes Ranger District

If you have read the historical fiction novel "Centenniel" by James A. Michener, this area was called Rattlesnake Buttes in that book.

[itsMeFred]

Originally Posted by BereniceUK

Thanks for the responses. Provisional schedule - I'll be driving from Denver up to Pine Bluffs WY and then east through Kimball and Sidney on the 30 (Highway?) to Chappell, up to Berea, and then on to Ogalalla where I'm thinking of staying one night.
Second day, on to Roscoe (Paxton is a possibility), up to Arthur and down to Imperial to stay the night there. And the next day back to Denver via Benkelman and St Francis KS.
Lots of small town photo opportunities for me! Arthur is going to be one of the highlights of my US visit - the only church in the world built of bales of straw.

Many thanks for the info on Minden, I'll keep Kearney County in mind if I return to Nebraska sometime.

well if you're going to be doing Benkelman and Sainty, make sure you check out the Arikaree Breaks. Note: If you want to read the driving tour, you'd be doing it backward as you'd be going from B to Saint Francis, correct?
(I would skip the Horse Thief Cave road as it's a really rough road, and the cave isn't really a cave anymore, anyway. lol)
make sure you stay on 34 when you head out of Benkelman. Just past the vet clinic, the road turns west, or goes straight south to Kansas. You don't want to go to KS yet.


Turn off highway 34, west of the Parks corner just a couple of miles. I can't remember what county road it is on the Nebraska side, but you can't miss the corner.
You'll have just passed the Tecker Ranch and you'll see a bill board for Shay Realty on up the highway. On the south side of the highway is a sign that says "Mills Ranch 7 miles south." Take that road.
It'll take you straight into downtown Saint Francis after you wind a few miles through the Breaks area. Very dramatic!

Make sure you check out the GAR cemetary. Very simple but you can feel the history. (you'll turn off the county road just before the power substation and just before the gravel turns back to pavement.) Turn to the east and go about a half mile. The cemetery is on the north side of the road.



So far as Arthur, yes Pilgrim's Holiness is made of straw bales. So is their old courthouse (behind the new one).
There were quite a few homes and buildings in that area that were constructed of bales back at the turn of the last century. People always think soddies in Nebraska, yet many Nebraskans don't even know about bale houses.

If you have time when near Imperial, Champion NE has the last remaining water driven mill in Nebraska. Worth a visit if you can squeeze it in.

~Erin

[Gunluvver2]

Great pictures ItsMeFred. I spent many happy hours, as a kid, hunting arrowheads along the Arikaree near Beecher Island . The proprietor of the small grocery store (Shorty O'Berg?) at Beecher Island would swap me a box (50 rounds) of .22 Long Rifle cartridges for one arrowhead . Thanks to him I always had plenty of ammo. I wonder what happened to his collection? Those pictures bring back many fond memories.
GL2

[BereniceUK]

Many thanks, itsMeFred, that's a terrific post and link and I hope I can follow that driving tour (my next US, and first Nebraska, visit isn't until next September but I like to do as much research as possible beforehand!).

The GAR cemetery is a must for me - I love mooching round old cemeteries, also country churches. And there should be plenty of time to visit Champion too. Should be a great visit for me.