Through this valley passed the Oregon Trail, highway for early explorers, fur traders, California-bound gold seekers, freighters, and brave pioneers seeking new homes in the West. Traffic was especially heavy from 1843 to 1866. At times as many as . . . — — Map (db m45521) HM
On Oct. 10, 1871 the Buffalo County seat was by vote located at Gibbon.
On this site was built the first Buffalo County Courthouse in 1873. Hand made brick in base, made from local clay is from this courthouse razed in 1909.
On Oct. 13, 1874 the . . . — — Map (db m79715) HM
Gibbon, on the old Mormon Trail, was the site of a unique experiment in homestead colonization. Originally conceived as a financial venture by Colonel John Thorp of Ohio, the Soldier's Free Homestead Colony was responsible for bringing the first . . . — — Map (db m79880) HM
Gibbon, near here, was the site of a unique experiment in homestead colonization. The Soldiers' Free Homestead Temperance Colony was responsible for bringing the earliest settlers, mostly Union veterans, to this locality. Traveling via the Union . . . — — Map (db m79716) HM
James E. Boyd settled near here in 1858 and by 1860 operated a trail ranche supplying travelers on the Platte Valley Overland Route (Mormon Trail). The ranche included 2200 acres of corn and barley. Nebraska Centre Post Office was here until it was . . . — — Map (db m45425) HM
Erected by the descendants of the Soldiers Free Homestead Colony, to honor and perpetuate their names, for their courage and self sacrifice in their pioneering. They arrived in Gibbon, Nebraska, April 7, 1871, by Union Pacific Railroad, seeking . . . — — Map (db m79721) HM
Baldwin Built engine 481 in 1903. The original number was 1902, but was later renumbered 841 in 1915. It was used on the main line branch lines of the Union Pacific Railroad in Kansas until the winter of 1954-55, when it was brought to Kearney . . . — — Map (db m45428) HM
The Boyd House, first frame house in Buffalo County, was built just west of present-day Gibbon in 1864 by brothers James E. and Joseph Boyd. It was the family home of James and Ann Boyd and their children. The two brothers came to the area in the . . . — — Map (db m45468) HM
The Lincoln Highway Association was founded in 1913 to promote a transcontinental automobile route from new York City to San Francisco. Dedicated on October 31, 1913, the route was marked by the letter “L” within red, white, and blue . . . — — Map (db m45520) HM
This garden was planted in memory of Dr. Paul Ambrose who died on American Airlines Flight 77 on September 11, 2001.
"Paul dedicated his career to changing the health care system with an emphasis on physician leadership and prevention. Paul . . . — — Map (db m58905) HM
This property
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Destroyed by fire
Rebuilt 1940 as
Fort Theatre — — Map (db m58904) HM
This building was constructed in 1898 by the German Baptist Church of the Brethren to serve as a house of worship. It was originally located on the southwest corner of ? Street and Avenue A in Kearney. This congregation used this building until . . . — — Map (db m45467) HM
This gazebo is dedicated to the
memory of the
Good Samaritan Air Crew.
On December 20, 1985, they gave
their lives attempting to save others.
Nancy Brandon
Joan Brown
Craig Budden — — Map (db m58938) HM
In 1847 Brigham Young led the first migration over the Mormon Trail along the north bank of the Platte River, and in 1866 the Union Pacific Railroad pushed its main line westward to this valley, bringing pioneer settlers. However, it was not until . . . — — Map (db m45427) HM
Dedicated in honor and memory
Judge Bruno O. Hostetler
1861 - 1954
Leadership in establishing
college in Kearney
1903
A gift from his daughter
Mrs. Florence H. Raymond
June 19, 1980 — — Map (db m58962) HM
Long before early French explorers named it the Platte River, or "flat waters," this heartland oasis was a crossroads. Migratory birds, abundant wildlife and Native Americans had been in residence for centuries when the confluence of the Oregon and . . . — — Map (db m58888) HM
In the late 1880's, Kearney business leaders envisioned the city as a major manufacturing center. The Kearney Cotton Mill was among the many enterprises launched as part of this venture, which included paper, woolen, and oatmeal mills; plow and . . . — — Map (db m101852) HM
In honor of
George and Venetia Peterson
and
Elias and Mary Yanney
The carillon tower reflects the early history of Kearney State College and the Administration Building located adjacent to this site.
The four columns of the . . . — — Map (db m58961) HM
Loup River Freighters Hotel was built in 1884 by Jerome Lalone, a house painter and wallpaper hanger from Kearney. Mr. Lolone purchased land in the northwestern corner of Buffalo County along the South Loup river in 1883. he built the house along a . . . — — Map (db m45429) HM
This depot was built in 1898 next to the Union Pacific tracks in Shelton. It was moved to this site in September 1975 and was the first building on the grounds of the Trails and Rails Museum of the Buffalo County Historical Society. It was donated . . . — — Map (db m45471) HM
and
Bauer Sundries & Veterinary Supplies
January 1959 - October 1969
Proprietor, Frances R. Bauer
Home of Kearney's last soda fountain
In honor of
George J. and Frances R. Bauer
for their civic mindedness and years of . . . — — Map (db m58857) HM
The trail which followed the south side of the Platte River was the main route to Oregon and California. Fur traders going to the Rocky Mountains took the first wagons over the trail in 1830. Oregon-bound missionaries followed in the mid-1830s, and . . . — — Map (db m53268) HM
In 1888, H. D. Watson established the historic Watson Ranch, at one time containing 8,000 acres, reaching from the fertile Platte Valley on the south to the rolling hills on the north and from downtown Kearney to a point five miles west.
. . . — — Map (db m101853) HM
In 1903 the legislature appropriated $50,000 to establish a state normal school in central or western Nebraska. After 111 ballots, the State Board of Education chose Kearney as the site. The city donated twenty acres on the west edge of town for a . . . — — Map (db m45500) HM
From 1934 to 1939, Companies 2741 and 2732 of the Civilian Conservation Corps occupied a camp near this site. Barracks housed about 200 men, ages 18 to 25, who built soil conservation dams and planted shelterbelts on nearby farms. The camp moved to . . . — — Map (db m181771) HM
The ill-fated Pleasanton Nebraska branch extended southwestward along the South Loup Valley from Boelus to Pleasanton, a distance of 22.42 miles. Construction from Boelus to Nantasket was completed in 1887 and reached Pleasanton in 1890. The line . . . — — Map (db m181793) HM
On the South Loup River southwest of here was the site of the U.S. Army’s Post South Loup Fork. This small outpost of Fort Kearney was established in May 1865 by Company “E”, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, under the command of Capt. James B. David and . . . — — Map (db m181699) HM
In April 1860 Joseph E. Johnson, a Mormon, established a road ranche at Wood River Center, today’s Shelton, and began publishing The Huntsman’s Echo, the first newspaper in Nebraska west of Omaha. He had earlier edited papers in Council Bluffs, . . . — — Map (db m45423) HM
This Boulder is dedicated to the early pioneers of the community of Shelton, in recognition of their heroic services in establishing and protecting this town and in risking their lives that Shelton might be secure.
In memory of La Belle Whitney . . . — — Map (db m45283) HM
