Ghost Towns
© Oct 2002, Janet Eckmann
Ghost towns, are they real or just a frightful phrase used by authors to illuminate Halloween stories?
According to a research project completed in the late 1960s, Nebraska has over 900 abandoned or nearly abandoned towns.
Northeast Nebraska, including Knox County can attest to being home of a number ghost towns which ones dotted the pages of early plat books. Unlike many of the mining ghost towns in Colorado or Nevada, Nebraska ghost towns don't fit the "made for movie" stereotypes.
The classic ghost town emerged when whole towns were deserted overnight, and buildings remained intact, as if time stood still.
Typically ghost towns in Nebraska appeared little by little by the slowly eroding population of rural communities. Some of the early towns may still have some life; but nothing compared with the robust vitality of their formative years. Other communities names have survived as simply a "place name": it otherwise occurs only in old record books and on tombstones in local cemeteries.
In the 1800's small towns sprang up throughout the country out of necessity. These small communities were not important river towns, or railroad towns; they were simply created out of public need.
Those needs being to have a place to worship and socialize with neighbors; to trade for needed items; and most importantly a place to locate a post office, so they could mail and receive letters.
West and south of Bloomfield a few miles there once stood the village of Morrillville where once there was a dancehall country store, post office and a school. The only thing that remains at the site of the one room school is a cement covered cave. The Morrillville Cemetery is located a distance from the road to the east and is a wonderful place to walk around and feel the sense of peace that the early pioneers must have had when they chose this as the last resting place for their loved ones.
Because of the insight of Jack Luckert of Center, (now deceased) you can visit the old school house building. The building was moved to the Knox County Fair Grounds and sits as it was in its' earlier days.
Walnut was one of the first settlements in Knox county. Looking for its location, however, would prove difficult even with help of a road map; although it can be found in the telephone book. Area residents speak of it like it is still a prosperous town. Historians say there was a large grove of walnut trees growing near this location when the first post office and store were established in 1872. There were two general stores and several homes in the town of Walnut at one time.
The remains of a general store that closed it's door in 1957, sits peacefully on a quiet country road that winds through a avenue of trees. A son of the late store owner lives in the home next to the old store. He operates a farm and the former store building is used for storage.
An old gas pump sits in front of the store, a reminder of why most small towns became ghost towns. The invention of the automobile made the need for the towns less important, as people could travel more easily to larger towns.
Many small towns with a post office and general store were located near a rural school. The Sparta Store established in 1887 was one such business which was moved in 1922 to a location across the road from the old one room school.
The wood-clabbered building stands un-vandalized: weathered by the years: with a lonely look symbolizing the end of an era. It seems much larger then many rural stores, with a full basement under it, and living quarts on the side. A small house and a garage sit next to the store where at one time there was a small repair shop.
Joseph Liska owned and operated the country store until becoming ill in 1957. Jim Sokal, whose wife, Barb, is a granddaughter of Joseph Liska, said the store was one of a kind.
"When Grandpa Joe decided to close the doors, he did just that. Everything was left just as it was, shelves and store rooms were full," he said. Sokol said the family was told to take keepsakes they wanted. Among treasures his wife choose was an antique penny stick gum machine, which their daughter refinished for a 4-H project. Contents, including boxed clothing from the 1920s, remained in the building until sold at a public auction in 1983 that attracted antique buyers from across the country.
Other towns were started as a need for a place to worship. Often times the church building would come first then the town.
With the churches of course came cemeteries. History books in describing locations of some deserted towns still record them as being located near certain cemeteries. Some early cemeteries are still used by area residents and maintained with pride. Others, although fenced in appear desolate and deserted. Perhaps that is why some abandoned towns got the name of "Ghost Towns".
A small family cemetery in Pischelville, named appropriately enough after one of the community leaders Anton Pischel dates back to the late 1800.s The Pischelville hall built in 1884, by Lodge members is still used today. It is nestled in the picturesque valley near the Niobrara River and was registered in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Bill Pischel, great-grandson of Anton Pischel has kept documented records of his family's history in the area. Pischel said his great grandfather came to Knox County from Bavaria, and was a Taylor for the soldiers at Fort Randall. "He first lived in a dugout, then a Soddy, before building the large square house that sits across the street from hall", he said. His grandparents owned and operated a General Merchandise Store.
Bill said it was a trading post, post office, and they even sold horse drawn farm equipment with a warehouse across the street that still stands next to the hall. As a child, Pischel said he heard many stories of the town and the small cemetery where nearly his whole family is buried due to a Black Fever epidemic that hit the area soon after they started homesteading. Located in the Pischelville area was a blacksmith shop which operated until 1954, a saw mill, flour mill, and school. The Bohemian National Cemetery is located just south of the hall. The cemetery is a remarkable place to visit and view some artistic grave markers.
Some Knox County communities came to life because of a nearby flour mill, or ice house in which ice that had been harvested in the winter was stored. Still other towns emerged because of a dance hall, or nearby bowery in which small orchestras and bands played for family entertainment.
One such town was Tewsville, where in 1928 a dance hall was built at the cost of $3800 across the street from the Bertha Tews store.
Tewsville was located one and1/2 mile north of what is now Lindy. The dance hall had its own 32-volt light plant which was housed under the stage. Historians, writing the Lindy Lore book, say the floor was built of hardwood maple, all hand-planed. Laid in a pattern of squares, each fitting perfectly into the other from the middle outward. The wooden building was heated of course with a huge pot-bellied stove. In the summer the hinged sections of side walls were opened for ventilation; and as reported by some as means of entering the building to avoid paying admission.
A small room was provided in the northwest corner of the hall where sleeping children could be put down. There was a lunch counter on the south end, where the Tews family sold ice cream cones from five gallon tubs for a nickel and hot dogs, hamburgers and pop for a dime. At one time an all-girl band group, traveling in a large truck throughout the country stayed in the hall on cots overnight after the dance and left the next day.
The Tewsville Store located on the Southwest corner, was operated by Fritz Tews, brother of Lindy founder George Tews. The family had five sons and five daughters who operated the general store, where they tested cream and bought eggs. The old Tewsville Store was remodeled and served briefly as a home. It burned down in January of 1944.
Tewsville Dance Hall, where Lawrence Welk once played, was a short-lived success. It stood unused for many years before being dismantled for salvage lumber. We have some of that salvaged lumber in our home as a mantel near our wood burning stove. One can plainly see the initials of some young dancer carved in the wood. We think it adds character to the room. I would wager the youngsters carving their name on the walls of that dance hall never planed on it decorating someone's home. All that remains on Tewsville corner is a broken windmill, and depressions in the earth where pieces of foundations lay. People in the area still call it Tewsville Corner, where the oil road ends north of Lindy on the Santee road.
Although a similar dance Hall in Lindy met the same fate as Tewsville, the community of Lindy lives on. Lindy, like many small towns came into existence in 1928 because of the need for a closer marketing and shopping center. In its heyday, the town, named for aviator Charles Lindbergh, had a variety of enterprising business including a barber shop and a theater. Lindy once had a hardware store, bowery, an ice cream parlor, a blacksmith shop, an electric appliance shop, a ball diamond, and was home to the Addison Telephone Company from 1944-1958.
In 1978 Lindy, which sits north of highway 12 had a population of 38. With the closing of the feed store and general store in the late 80's, and the gas pumps in the early 1990's, Lindy's population is down to13. It has a church that started as a dugout, a cafe and bar, and a fire hall built in 1976 as a branch of the Bloomfield Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Unit. Lindy will be celebrating their 75th Jubilee on July 5th of 2003.
Other ghost towns with no trace of former existence are, Blyville, Millerboro, Mars, Ruth, Knox Ville, Morrillville, Orient, Armstrong, Reidsville, Anawan, Arthur, and Jelen.
One of main reasons for these satellite communities was to establish a post office. In some instance the post office was first located in someone's home before being moved to newly constructed establishment; and a town was born. Several ghost towns never grew beyond the point of being a wide space in the middle of the road with a building housing a general store. The LaBlanc Store, and the Addson Store were two of them.
The Addison Store, often referred to as the Hilfker Store was short lived, but played a unique part in naming the area north of Lindy along the Missouri River "The Devils Nest"
A story from Lindy Lore states "A sheriff who had gone into the area sometime around the turn of the century to search for horse thieves and, finally having found his way back out, he is said to have remarked to storekeeper Robert Hilfiker, "That sure is a devil's nest."
I guess of all the legends on how the Devils Nest got its' name, that one is my favorite. The old store still stands on ground owned by Hilfikers' great-grandson Robert Kuhl. I often day dream about this old store building which sits near the road, as I take walks near our farm.
I enjoy reading the Lindy Lore, and the words written by Lulu Hilfiker Magdefrau, granddaughter of Robert Hilfiker.
"My grandfather, Robert Hilfiker, was from Switzerland. He lived on a farm about three and a half miles from Lindy. He had a general store, Addison Store, on the farm. The Indians in the neighborhood would walk to the store to buy their needs. My family, Archie and Lulu Hilfiker, later lived in this store building until Grandfather died. I remember the bars on the windows and by bedroom was the meat storage room."
The Hilfiker Store was only one mile from Tewsville. I find it strange that the three stores, Lindy, Tewsville, and Addison were located so close together. I couldn't find out if they were all operating simultaneously or one after the other. History books and atlases show there was also an Addison Church and School located east of the store.
In a copy of an atlas dated 1903 there is a map of Hill township, and in range 31 is located the LeBlanc Post Office.
Historians write that the LeBlanc Store and Post Office was established by Gus LeBlanc, in the late 1899. LeBlanc, a French Canadian was a watchmaker by trade and played a violin. He heard of a forty-acre tract of unoccupied government land about half way between Niobrara and Bloomfield. The building set a mile and a half south of what is now highway 12, known at that time as the Victory Community. LeBlanc and his wife filed a homestead claim on it and erected a store to trade with the Indians. He could speak Sioux and became a good friend of the Indians
In 1904, he sold the store and land to John F. Reeson, and eventually constructed a large brick building on Bloomfield's Main Street, where he sold watches, clocks, jewelry, fine china and porcelain and Indian curios. The LeBlanc Store building was unusually large, and a dance hall was located above the store. Public dances were held every two weeks with oyster suppers being served at 25 cents a bowl. Mr. Reeson kept the store open on dance nights, so people could do their shopping. He also farmed and did blacksmith work in part of the building.
The store was closed in 1924 and the building turned into a comfortable home. Little remains at the location of the former store/post office except some crumbling foundation and few of cedar trees. However, ruts from the LeBlanc road are still visible in the pasture nearby.
The Venus Store….Ya, I love that place, I drive by it purposely at least once a year just to get a dose of yesterday!
Burnell Von Seggern told me he was raised in the rooms behind the store, and that his Mother, Ella ran the store for a long time before moving into Orchard. Ella passed away a couple of years ago. Several years earlier I visited with Ella Von Seggern in her home. She was most interesting and told me many things about the years that she and her family lived in the store.
The Venus store started in 1879 closed in 1979. Ella said the store had been good to her family for nearly 30 years. She and her husband Art who passed away in 1978, raised their five children in the living quarters in the rear of the store. She said "Those kids packed groceries, pumped gas, and tested cream; They had to as we were still trying to farm, too". Her husband drove a livestock truck to Sioux City and picked up the freight. He hauled the farmer’s cattle or hogs to the market and brought back canned goods, dry goods, fruit, vet supplies, feed and most everything sold in the store. But it became harder and harder to get supplies. The wholesale houses wanted only large orders, and her son who busy farming would have to go to nearby towns to pick them up. Mrs. Von Seggern said the locality's demise started with the closing of the post office. Then, the cream and egg truck stopped coming. Pretty soon only the pop and beer trucks would make deliveries. She said it was real gradual, but you could see it coming. Venus at one time had a livery stable, dance hall, baseball field, a school, and a church. The old school sits empty since the reorganization process of the 1960s. The Venus Methodist Church sits proudly on its corner location ,the community’s principal landmark.
The Venus Lutheran Church located seven miles northeast of Venus is still in operation.
When asked Ella if she felt Venus was a ghost town? she said, "I don't know if I would call these old towns ghost towns. It's just history, plain and simple." And that is it.
