West Second Street was a "happening" place in 1890!

As our country was engaged in a huge Bicentennial celebration nearly 40 years ago (1976), the Chadron Record marked the occasion by creating a map of the early Chadron downtown business district.  It was based largely on a map created by the late P.O. Gaylord, our next door neighbor in the 1960s, and one of the few folks alive when the town was founded back in 1885.  They also consulted an 1890 Chadron City Business Directory.

In its Thursday, May 13, 1976 edition, the Record printed their map and noted a couple of interesting points about the development of the Chadron business district.

First, it was along West Second Street that that businesses seemed to gravitate.  Between Main and Morehead, there were some 39 business that fronted Second Street.  They included the post office, a couple of meat markets, furniture store, hat shop, a hardware store, pool hall, barber shop, two banks, the Chadron Journal, and "the first picture show" in town.

It seems the railroad town company, which had platted the town,l intended that Main Street should be — what else, but the "main street" — and hiked the prices along the street accordingly.  Before the old townsite five miles west of Chadron was moved — and before the new downtown lots were sold — local merchants decided they'd rather buy cheaper lots long Second Street.

Thus, the map shown at the top of the column at left reflects a much more robust commercial district along Second Street than existed up and down Main Street.  Click on the map and you'll be able to take a closer look.

Of course, circumstances changed over the years, and many new and enduring buildings would eventually be constructed along Main.  But you'll still see vestiges of the 1890 "downtown" up and down Second Street.  Click on the undated map shown at left.  It reflects a much more robust commercial district along Second Street than existed up and down Main Street.  

Take me out to the ball game!

By Larry Miller

As the spring training Cactus League winds down in the Phoenix area and major league baseball teams prepare to swing in to action for the regular season, a group of a dozen or so Chadron folks found themselves at Nando’s Mexican restaurant in Chandler, Arizona last week for a get-together.

Cheryl and Larry Moody

Now, that’s not unusual.  There’ve been gatherings of  former Chadron residents and “Snowbirds” in Arizona for many years  It’s always fun to swap stories about Nebraska and get reacquainted with good friends from the past.

But we thought this one was special.  Especially for those of us who played “Ward” baseball back in the 1950’s.

Larry and Cheryl (Haskell) Moody now make their home in Chandler, and they brought to this gathering an artifact from the past that intrigued many of us.

It was an “Official Little League” Spalding baseball with the following inscription:  “To Mr. K. Moody from Fourth Ward ‘Champs’ ‘54”    And scribbled all around the ball were the names of those proud youngsters of south Chadron who played our version of Little League baseball that year in Chadron.

We found the following signatures:  Jim Saults, Jimmy Fitzgibbon, Jim Sandstrom, John Helzer, Charles Nelson, Douglas McKinnon, Charles Childerston, Larry Moody, Danny Davis, Eddie Reinking, George Blundell, Tom Saults, Bill Rice,  Jon Sandstrom, Eugene Cornish, Dick Muma and Richard Burkhiser.

“K. Moody,” of course, was Kenny Moody, whom many will remember as a long-time Dawes County resident who was a staunch enthusiast for youth sports activities in Chadron for decades. And in the summer of 1954, he was a coach/manager for the Fourth Ward team.  As we recalled, that was a team sponsored by the Rotarians.  Ward One was sponsored by the Lions Club, and Ward Three by Kiwanis.  (Our memory of the Ward Three sponsor is MIA!)

Kenny and his wife, Wanda, moved to Arizona many years ago and are now both deceased.  Interestingly, three of their four children – Larry, Rebecca, and Lynn – also sought warmer climes and now live in the Phoenix area.  The eldest, Nancy, still lives in Chadron.

Ralph and Linda Byerly  

Spring training baseball games in “The Valley” of Arizona have always been popular – and it’s increasingly big business.  We attended a game here about 10 years ago and found it reminiscent of going to a Chadron Elks baseball game back in the ‘50s.  There were larger crowds here, of course, and the quality of play was a step up – but only a bit! 

Today, tens of millions of dollars have been poured in to new ball fields and training facilities in the Phoenix area, accompanied by ticket prices that have escalated to a level out of range for lots of folks.  Nonetheless, they still seem to fill the stadiums here with record crowds.

But our baseball “fix” this year didn't come from a Major League game.  It came in the form of an autographed Little League baseball from a half century ago in Chadron, Nebraska.  

This event was a Grand Slam!

Sandhills brothers left legacies for all of us

by Larry Miller

(NOTE:  Many thanks to Con Marshall for his assistance in providing much of the information contained in this story.)

It was 92 years ago today -- March 10, 1923 -- that Val Fitch was born at Merriman, Nebraska.  His older brother, Lyle, was nearly 10 years older.

While “Fitch” is not exactly a household name, it’s one that gained considerable prominence across the country and around the world over the past several decades.  

The Fitch brothers were products of the Nebraska sandhills – and they both attended Chadron State College, as did their sister, Helen.

Their story, of course, started many years earlier – at about the beginning of the 20th century – when their grandfather, Peter Fitch and his wife Minerva, sold their rural home near Valley, Nebraska (Madison County) and moved to the open grasslands of northwest Cherry County.  The Fitch family had lived in Madison County since the time of the Civil War, so it was likely a big change for them, striking out for the wide-open Sandhills.  It was there, not far from Merriman, that Peter bought a cattle ranch.  By the time the federal census was taken in 1910, there were six children in the Fitch family.  The oldest was 19-year-old Fred.

In about 1912 or 1913, Fred Fitch married Frances Logsdon, a teacher, and they would continue the Fitch ranching operation, raising purebred Herefords on their ranch about  five miles northwest of Merriman.  With the coming of World War I, Fred registered for the draft.  By then, the summer of 1917, Fred and Frances Fitch had two children:  3-year-old Lyle and an infant daughter, Helen. Lyle and Helen would start their education in a nearby one-room country schoolhouse. 

Then, on March 10, 1923, Val was born.  But before he was old enough to start school, Val’s father, Fred, was involved in a horse accident that would lead the family to move in to Merriman, where the children would enroll in the town school.

Their stay in Merriman was cut short.  Within three years the family relocated again, this time to Gordon, where Fred became a general insurance agent, bought a home and made a decent living for his family.

The Fitch brothers story, to that point, was not a particularly remarkable tale, apart from the resiliency the family demonstrated when faced with some life-changing incidents.

But whatever the challenges, the Fitch boys seemed more than prepared.

(CLICK "READ MORE" BELOW)

12 Nebraska towns you've likely never heard of

The Lincoln Journal-Star has written about 12 little-known Nebraska towns.

See how many of them you know -- or maybe have actually visited!

CLICK HERE

We were familiar half of the communities -- and actually have visited some of them.  Of course, there were a few we'd never heard of.  But we suspect that many Omaha and Lincoln-area residents haven't heard of Marsland or Antioch, or numerous other tiny panhandle settlements -- some of which today would likely be considered "ghost" towns.

Information about these little-known towns was gleaned from what's called the Virtual Nebraska project, which "emerged out of the Consortium for the Application of Space Data to Education (CASDE) project, which began in September 1995, after Senator Bob Kerrey challenged personnel of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to find a better way to apply NASA's space data holdings to education."

The site was created by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It offers a wealth of information, including Landsat satellite photos, color infra-red images, educational modules, tutorials, and much more.

One of those components is Nebraska -- Our Towns. It deals with historical information about cities and towns all across the state, searchable by county and/or town name.  A few years back we contributed a bit about Whitney to the Our Towns database in the form of a link pointing to our Whitney Reflections website.  

As you explore Our Towns and read through information about Chadron, Whitney, Crawford, Marsland, and other communities in Dawes County and Nebraska, you'll probably find that the information is far from comprehensive, and there is likely information that needs to be better documented.  

Nonetheless, we found Virtual Nebraska to be not only an enjoyable diversion for learning about Nebraska communities, it also contains a real abundance of information that any Nebraska should find interesting and helpful.

Enjoy!

Well-known western historian Tom Buecker dies

by Larry Miller

Tom Buecker was well known across the High Plains region – especially in the Nebraska panhandle, where he served 26 years as curator at the Fort Robinson Museum located at Fort Robinson State Park west of Crawford.

Tom Buecker (1946-2015)

Buecker died last week (2/2/15) while shoveling snow at the Kennard House in Lincoln, where he had served as curator for the Nebraska State Historical Society since leaving Fort Robinson in 2011.  He was 66 years old.

We first met Buecker a decade ago while doing some research at the historic western Nebraska fort.  He was most accommodating and helpful – a trait we later learned was something of a hallmark for Tom.  Our Spearfish neighbor, David Wolff – a long-time history professor-turned-administrator at Black Hills State University -- also spoke highly of Buecker, telling us about the excellent Fort Robinson History Conferences that were co-sponsored by the historical society and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for many years.  Tom Buecker was a key player in the success of those conferences.  Alas, they are no more.

When Tom Buecker was transferred to Lincoln in 2011, Dawes County and the panhandle lost a superb advocate of Old West history.  Not only had Buecker established himself as a top-notch researcher, he was also a superb author – publishing two volumes that focused on the history of the old Army outpost at Fort Robinson from 1874 to 1948.  Fort Robinson is now among Nebraska’s best-known State Parks.  

Buecker’s most recent book, “A Brave Soldier & Honest Gentleman” was published last year.

Omaha World-Herald  "The Guy was a Giant"  

KETV-Omaha  Report of Tom Buecker’s death

Chadron Record Buecker’s work at Fort Robinson

Lost in Wonder, Love and Praise

by Larry Miller

We've not met Chuck Leypoldt, but the family name will ring a bell with many residents of Dawes County.

Pastor Woodrow Leypoldt is shown with 
several of his children, circa mid-1950s. 

In recent years, Chuck's son, Seth, was pastor of the United Methodist Church in Chadron from 2005 to 2012. However, a couple of generations ago the Leypoldt family called Crawford home. 

Seth's grandfather was something of a "circuit rider" for area Methodist churches, living and ministering to a congregation in Crawford and scooting up and down U.S. Highway 20 to serve the congregation at Whitney's Warring Methodist Church as well.

We met up with Chuck via e-mail a couple of years ago, and he was kind enough to share a photo of his siblings and dad (shown here) that was likely taken at Chadron State Park.

Like his father, Chuck also served as a Methodist minister for many years, and then added several working years to his resume in the banking and insurance businesses.  He's retired now and calls Lincoln, Nebraska home.

The Woodrow Leypold family (undated)

Chuck says he spends much of his time keeping up with his family, taking photos of church art (he's dubbed himself the "Steeple Chaser") and writing.

We've enjoyed his many online postings at pylodet.com, but he's also assembled a 280-page family memoir of years criss-crossing Nebraska as son of a pastor, pastor, and father of a pastor.  It's entitled "Lost in Wonder, Love and Praise."

We're delighted that Chuck Leypoldt has allowed us to share an excerpt from his book.  In fact, it's all of Chapter 5, recounting the Leypoldt years in Crawford in the mid-1950s, and you can read it here: "The Garden Beyond the Sandhills." 

Chuck's website also notes that he's taken some 20,000 pictures of church art, and you'll find many of them online and in his book, which you can order by going to:  Lost in Wonder, Love and Praise.

Memories of the Chadron Congregational Academy...

by Larry Miller

One of the joys of reunions is seeing old friends and getting better acquainted with other persons from your past.  Such was the case this month when we attended a reunion of Chadron State College alumni in the Phoenix area.

And sometimes it's not just the people who delight you -- it's what they bring to the gathering.

Linda Neeland Cullers brought along an undated booklet of biographical sketches of students who had attended the old Chadron Congregational Academy, which preceded Chadron State College by several years.  It also contained a short history of that institution, authored by Gertrude Lutz.  What a treasure!

The history helps fill in huge voids for many of us who have heard of the old Chadron Academy (not to be confused with the later Assumption Academy parochial school) but knew little, if any, of its history.  This little 60-page booklet does the job nicely -- especially  the autobiographical notes from some 110 students who attended the school.

Linda agreed to loan us this splendid booklet, and we're providing Gertrude Lutz's history in this posting.  In the near future, we'll add some of the fascinating biographies that are included in the publication.  Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONAL ACADEMY

(Chadron, Nebraska)

By Gertrude Lutz

If you stroll up the College Hill and go just beyond the gate, you will see the remains of a narrow cement walk zigzagging ujp the hillside.

In the year of 1888 the minister of the Chadron Congregational Church, Rev. A. J. Powell, met with a group of ministers and missionaries of this region to talk about a Church Academy School for Chadron.

There was a need at that time for High School graduates to qualify for teaching positions with county certificates in Dawes County.

The Chadron High School at that time offered only an eleventh grade level and some felt that was not enough for teachers.

Besides many older persons who would like to teach had not the opportunity to finish a High School course.

So the Northwestern Association of Congregational Churches was formed and after much thinking and debate, a decision was made to build an academy with four years of High School work at Chadron, Nebraska.

The Articles of Incorporation were filed on November 16, 1889.

The location for the school took some thinking and decisions but it seemed that the hilly area South of the city of Chadron was the place.

The Chadron Congregational Academy

So eighty acres of this hilly land was bought from Judson K. Deming for $3200.  It was mostly pine tree country and hills but a slope near the Northern part down towards the town was the spot chosen for the building. 

This land was bought on November 21, 1888 and the building was begun the following summer and was not finished until the year 1890.

The building was made of brick and native stone and was to be three stories high, but only two stories were finished at first and then the furnishings were needed.  A lien had to be put on the building for needed funds.