 Alliance (County Seat)  Downtown Alliance: Box Butte Avenue Alliance is a city in Box Butte County, in the northwestern part of the state of Nebraska and is located at the western edge of Nebraska's Sand Hills, in the Great Plains region of the United States. Its population was 8,491 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Box Butte County. The town was originally named Grand Lake. When the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad came to Grand Lake in 1888, the railroad superintendent, G.W. Holdrege, wanted to change it to a simple one-word name closer to the beginning of the alphabet, which he thought would be better for business.[7] The U.S. Post Office gave Holdrege permission, and he picked "Alliance" for the new name of the town. Alliance was incorporated as a city in 1891.[8] The Alliance Army Airfield was established in 1942. Construction was completed in August 1943 and the Army Air Corps used the facility as a training base until the end of World War II. The facility was transferred from the federal government to the City of Alliance in 1953 and is currently in use as the Alliance Municipal Airport. In the Lakota language, Alliance is known as chasmú oká?mi, meaning "Sand River Bend". According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.73 square miles, of which, 4.72 square miles is land and 0.01 square miles is water. Located in the High Plains, Alliance's climate is rather typical of the surrounding region. Under the Köppen climate classification, the town features a BSk climate, commonly described as a "Cold Steppe", with winters just below the 26.6 degrees F threshold needed to be classified as a Continental climate, if it had enough precipitation to not be arid or semi-arid. The all-time record high for Alliance is 110 degrees F, set in 1983, and the all-time record low is -42 degrees F, set in 1989. Precipitation is significantly higher in summer than in winter, with the wettest month being June, and the driest month being January. The railway line from the northern exit of the Powder River Basin, one of the largest coal-mining areas of the world, to Alliance and the eastern United States, sees a rather large number of coal trains every day, to power plants in the Midwest and South. In the southern areas of Alliance there is a large train yard which hosts many of these coal trains. Links: City of Alliance - http://www.cityofalliance.net/ Alliance Chamber of Commerce - http://www.alliancechamber.com/ Alliance Times-Herald newspaper - http://alliancetimes.com/ Notable people: Helen Duhamel (1904–1991), Rapid City, South Dakota, businesswoman and broadcaster, attended St. Agnes Academy in Alliance James Emanuel (1921-2013), poet and critic LeRoy J. Louden, Nebraska legislator Moon Bloodgood (born 1975), actress/model, born in Alliance Luke Redfield (born 1983), singer/songwriter, spent a portion of his youth in Alliance David Bunnell (born 1947), publisher, writer, personal computer pioneer, born and raised in Alliance ~~~~~~~~~~ Berea  Cluster of houses seen over railroad tracks occupied by train; metal grain elevator Berea, seen from the southeast across the BNSF tracks Berea is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Box Butte County, in the northwestern part of the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. It had a population of 41 at the 2010 census. Berea is about 10 miles northwest of Alliance, the county seat of Box Butte County. It lies along the west side of the BNSF Railway tracks, and of Nebraska Highway 2 near its junction with U.S. Highway 385. The Burlington Railroad reached the area of Berea in 1889, and railroad support facilities, including a water tower and section house, were built on the site. The town was founded by a group of settlers, originally from Ohio, who named their new home after Berea, Ohio. In 1890-91, the town had a population of 50, and a general store, newspaper, and post office; five years later, a school and community hall had been added. The population of Berea fluctuated over the next century. The town was of some local importance as a shipping stop along the railroad, although it never developed many commercial enterprises. A garage opened in 1921, repairing both automobiles and farm machinery. In 1925, when the population was estimated at 35, the post office was re-opened; it closed again a year later. A refinery was operated in the town in 1935 by the Utility Petroleum Company of Chadron. In 1960, a population of 75 was reported for Berea. The District 39 school was closed in 2007, at which time it had nine students enrolled. In 2009, the town's population was estimated to be 50. Berea has no commercial district. The Kelley Bean Company operates a grain elevator beside the railroad tracks; the elevator has a capacity of 633,000 US bushels, and the siding has space for nine railroad cars. In 2010, West Plains Grain Inc. announced plans to build a high-speed grain-loading facility with a capacity of 126 rail cars near Berea. ~~~~~~~~~~ Hemingford  Box Butte County Fairgrounds in Hemingford Hemingford is a village in Box Butte County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 803 at the 2010 census Hemingford was incorporated as a village in 1886. The founder being a native of Hemmingford, Quebec, caused the name to be selected. As of the census of 2010, there were 803 people, 335 households, and 220 families residing in the village. Author Stephen King adapted Hemingford's name for the fictional town of Hemingford Home, Nebraska, which appears in several of his works. ~~~~~~~~~~ Letan Letan is an unincorporated community in Box Butte County, Nebraska, in the United States. Letan was a station on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. ~~~~~~~~~~ Nonpareil A post office was established at Nonpareil in 1886, closed in 1894, reopened in 1925 and reclosed in 1946. Nonpareil was named after the "Nonpareil type" because like the type, the settlement was very small. ~~~~~~~~~~  Towns Then and Now Towns in 1890 Box Butte County taken from the 1890 Gazetteer THEN NOW Alliance - Population 1000 Alliance - Population 9963 Berea - Population 50 Berea - Population 50 Box Butte - Population about 30 Box Butte - No Longer Exists Burbank - Population about 20 Burbank - No Longer Exists Carpenter - Population about 10 Carpenter - No Longer Exists Girard - Population about 5 Girard - No Longer Exists Gregg - Population about 10 Gregg - No Longer Exists Hemingford - Population 400 Hemingford - Population 993 Lawn - Population about 40 Lawn - Cemetery Only Libby - Population about 10 Libby - No longer exists Nonpareil - Population about 50 Nonpareil - No longer exists Back This page was last updated April 15, 2016. © 2016 by the Box Butte County
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