Chase County History

Learn about our past and why we love Chase County!

Select a location to learn more about its history.

Imperial

The original town of Imperial was built on the land homesteaded by Thomas Mercier and M.L. Goodrich. The road, which is now the Grant highway, running east and west, was the dividing line between the two homesteads.

These men gave a town lot to anyone who would put up a building and help to start the town. On one corner was a bank; on another corner was a two-story double building. C.N. Cottrell had his hardware store on one side of the building, and Otto Fliesbach had general merchandise on the other side. The families lived upstairs over the store. On the other two corners were two more general stores, Brittell’s and Mercier’s. The post office was in Mercier’s store.

There was also a lumber yard owned by a Mr. Whitman, a drug store owned by a Mr. Smith, a livery stable owned by Smith Brothers, (L.T. and B.T.), and a blacksmith shop. Not long after the town started, there was another bank headed by Frank Thuresson. Most of the buildings were put up by the summer of 1886. Materials for the buildings and supplies for the stores were freighted from Benkelman.

The first bank, which was owned by Mr. Beltzer, soon failed with some loss to the depositors, but O.P. Shallenberger, soon after this bought twenty-five feet from the back end of the lot where Mill’s filling station now stands and, together with J.M. Sewell started what has always been the Farmer’s and Merchant’s bank. For some time, there was no church here, but Sunday School was held in Fliesbach’s home over their side of the store.

​When the railroad went through, the Lincoln Land Co. gave lots to all those men who would move their buildings to the new townsite, or rather they traded new lots for the old ones in the original town. Nearly all of the buildings were moved and the present location of the business part of the town was established.

In the fall of 1887, W.S. (Deak) Fisher, who owned the land on which Wauneta was to be built, had the townsite surveyed and platted into 18 blocks — seven on the east side and eleven on the west side of what was to become Tecumseh Ave., Wauneta’s main street. Some of the lots of the town were transferred to the Lincoln Land Co. for development purposes.

Wauneta had a general store as early as the summer of 1886, the McNaul & Wisner store. The first issue of The Breeze came off the press on June 17, 1886. A post office was established on June 19, 1887, with Lyman Rowley, the postmaster. Wauneta soon had a drug store, hotel, livery stable, blacksmith shop, and many other businesses for a new town of that day.

​Wauneta’s first flour mill was built in 1887 by Mr. Blair and D.E. Polly. It was located on the east side of the falls. Nelson Burham and sons Frank, James, and John, and son-in-law Frank Lorance were the carpenters. It was ready for business in the fall of 1887. Power to operate the mill was furnished by a turbine water wheel. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1905 and was rebuilt and ready for operation in 1907. George Theobald, Gordon and

H.E. Athey was the owner, having purchased the site from Polly and Blair.

The coming of the railroad on Jan. 28, 1892, soon put the town on the map, and many new businesses were established. Wauneta was the terminal of the railroad for about one year. John Hann, editor of The Breeze, in an early 1887 issue, said: “Wauneta is located on the Frenchman River beside the beautiful falls of the river between two of the best divides in Nebraska and is bound to become a prosperous town.” — Chester Stock.

Geo. W. Rowley followed Lyman Rowley as postmaster on July 27, 1877. James Cooper became postmaster on Nov. 7, 1878, and the office was discontinued, and the mail was sent to Estelle on Oct. 19, 1882. The office was again established in Wauneta Aug. 27, 1886 with Charles A. Fisher as postmaster.

Champion was originally called Hamilton, but it is not known for whom the town was named. They had a newspaper, The Hamilton Herald, published by J.S. Shoemaker. The first issue of the paper was dated Jan. 6, 1886. There are copies of The Hamilton Herald on file in the Imperial Republican Office, and they are a valuable source of history. The Hamilton post office was established on March 4, 1887.

Hamilton was one of the contestants for the county seat. At the June 24, 1886, election, Hamilton, Imperial, and Eldridge were voted upon. Hamilton lost out in the election. J.I. Moseberger of Hamilton served on the first county board. The first county fair was held southeast of the W.L. Davidson homestead in September 1886. They had a race track not excelled in the state, and the horses in the races made good time, said the editor. 

The post office became Champion on May 26, 1887. The Bonner Hotel, owned by Charles Bonner, is now the home of Walter Gibb. The Clint Goddard home, which was formerly a two-story building, was the Davis Hotel.

Mrs. Pauline Smith, who was five years old when her father came to the county in 1886, said Mr. Mead had a lumberyard, Mat Cunningham had a general store, and Silas Warren Kelly was editor of the Chase County Champion. Dr. Albert M. Lyman lived near the mill.

The Lakeview Cemetery was organized in 1889, and its records were maintained by Cap Hayes. He gave pertinent information about the deceased. Johnnie Roller, 15, fell from a horse, catching his foot in a stirrup, and was dragged to death; Charles Hancock was killed by being thrown from a buggy; Hugh Hill was killed when he fell from a load of freight 7 miles north of Benkelman. Some of the funerals were held in schoolhouses.

In May 1886, the Hamilton Herald reported, “Hamilton is situated on the Frenchman River. A more picturesque place, on a finer stream of water, and in a better section of the county, cannot be found”.

Old Enders was named for Peter Enders and was located two miles east of the present Enders near the Frenchman River. It was platted in 1890 and had a switch yard and a District 41 schoolhouse. Mr. Geo. W. Brown, father of Clyde Brown, helped move old Enders to the present site. The dedication deed for New Enders is dated 1908. ​The first church was Pioneer Church, which is the present Church of the Brethren. Geo. Brown was the first postmaster at New Enders and had a store in conjunction with the post office. Three generations of Mr. Brown’s family have served as postmasters at different times: his son, Clyde Brown, and his grandson, Hubert Brown. There was a feed store at the new site before the school was moved. The move was made to get out of the hills.

Enders Post Office was established Aug. 26, 1890, with Wm. A. Reid as postmaster. The office was discontinued on November 6, 1893, and the mail was sent to Wauneta. It was re-established Sept. 25, 1907, with Geo. W. Brown as postmaster.

Mr. Andrews’ parents came to Chase County in 1886 and settled in the Lamar community. On their arrival, there was a small village consisting of a general store owned by Hec Pairan, a flour and feed store owned by Dave Kingery, and the blacksmith shop owned by Ike Nicholson.

The outstanding feature of this community was a large frame house painted white with a red roof. This homestead was owned by A.S. Allen. This possession gave him the position of being an aristocrat.

George Hill, a nearby homesteader, made weekly trips to Haigler after freight for his and Mr. Kingery’s stores, and every effort was being made to establish a post office at his store and a mail route conducted by George Hill, the freighter. He emphasized that if we could get an established post office and a mail route that would supply us with mail once a week, we would have a modern, up-to-date town and community. The one great obstacle was the aristocrat Allen, the man who lived in the painted frame house. Allen insisted that the town and the post office be named Allendale and that he would act as postmaster and would also supply the mail carrier. Mr. Pairan wanted the post office in his store. He also coveted the position as postmaster and believed that George Hill should be the carrier. Mostly, the post office and town should be named Lenox, not Allendale.

A celebration was held to commemorate Kingery and Hill’s victory. A great future was predicted for Lenox. Many establishments sprang up almost overnight. Alas, this great adventure was short-lived. In less than a year, Lincoln Land Co. bought a section of land two miles east of Lenox and started another town named Lamar.

Every business place in Lenox moved to Lamar, leaving Mr. Allen sitting alone on the prairie. Lenox and Allendale were only a memory. At one time, Lamar had three general stores, two hardware stores, two drug stores, a bank, a hotel, a restaurant, two livery barns, a lumber yard, two implement stores, two newspapers, and the first resident physician in the county.