“History Lives Here” second phase begins

Nancy McGill/JR Photo

     A History Walk, Trailer Tour is planned for Friday at 10:30 a.m., on the west side of Roosevelt Park. Hebron’s Historical Committee (From left) Linda Simonsen, Karla Joe, David Cording and Lori Werner have completed the North tour with 20 signs that are historically accurate and entertaining, and link visitors to photos and an audio option. The research for the walking history tour began in 2021. Newspapers, documents, photos and family histories were collected and researched. Interviews with local residents provided background for many of the stories.     

A committee of four Hebron historians with the help of many have created a gateway to Hebron’s past that stretches to the national level. 

Last year, Linda Simonsen, Karla Joe, David Cording and Lori Werner took the local coffee crowd through their journey of discovery, research and love of Hebron. 

As the Hebron Historical Committee, the four tasked themselves to bring the city’s past to the present, starting with the establishment of Fort Butler that led to the first land survey in 1869 by Erasmus Correll, who started the Hebron Journal in 1871.

“When you think of Hebron, what do you think of?” Joe asked the coffee crowd. Answers included a stoplight by the bank, two water fountains on Lincoln Avenue and common events, like the 1953 tornado and Oregon Trail.

“As we have realized in the last five years, we have a great deal of history we want to share,” Joe said. “It’s Carlece’s fault because she called me in 2019 on Hebron’s 150th and said, ‘Let’s talk about Hebron History.’” 

For Simonsen, the hook was the Cattleman’s Ball History tent in 2018. The exhibits in the tent touched on Hebron’s history. The committee took it from there. 

“I’m a history teacher and I had already done the Oregon Trail, CC Camp and Pony Express because it’s national,” Simonsen said. “The Suffrage is also interesting, but it’s national, especially in the western part of the US. We have a lot of large history.” 

Joe said they realized they needed to interview residents to record the history they remembered. The interviews have been archived. 

Simonsen recalled one interview with Darlene Fischer. 

“It was fabulous because her family had the German POW’s working on their farm and she remembered all that. She was the primary source of information and not second hand,” Simonsen said. 

Fischer had photographs of the men. Her family was invited to their weddings in Germany after they had returned. They also sent gifts to her family. 

“It was amazing,” Simonsen said. 

“Donna Vieselmeyer is there. She was interviewed with Rose Rauner and Barbara Marsh and it was just fascinating,” Cording said.   

Following the interviews, they focused on the walking tour. 

Accuracy was key, Werner said. 

First, they chose the sites of which there are 20 on the now completed “North Tour” of the city. They started with the earliest events—Hebron’s founding on the Little Blue River by the Union Colony from Ohio that selected the city’s biblical name for their new home. 

“We did a lot of cross reference,” Werner said. “I have access to all the newspapers in the US back to 1871, so I did a lot of research. Hebron had four papers between 1871 and 1944. What you’re seeing put out is not just fly by night. Our goal was 100 percent accuracy.”

It’s been a lot of fun and has made them appreciate the work and efforts of Hebron’s founding fathers.

“And one founding woman,” Werner said. The lone clue they had to go on was were the initials E.S. and her last name Potter. 

“She first had a homestead in the 1860’s. We are thinking this woman, a single woman in her late 30’s or 40’s when she came to Nebraska. At that time, women weren’t really allowed to own property,” Werner said. 

“We found her name because of the school she wanted to start and she did,” Simonsen said. 

“She also went by the name Samara,” Werner said. Her first name was Esther, they found out, and the “S” is for Samara. 

“Sometimes, I was looking for Esther and reading about Samara,” Werner said. 

History is ongoing. 

“The high school is 150 years old this year,” Cording explained. “The Presbyterian and Methodist churches are 150 years old. While working on this project, we’re aware of what’s going on now. The courthouse will be 125 years in just a few years. We’re trying to get people to understand history is ongoing and has to be celebrated.” 

The North Tour begins at Roosevelt Park with Fort Butler, the founding fathers and the park itself. 

“Follow the trail from there,” Simonsen said. Conveniently, the City of Hebron website has the entire tour mapped out, along with the historical information on the signs at the tour’s stops. A QR code plays the audio for each of the 15 sites. 

“You can see a story, more photos and an audio by high school students,” Simonsen explained. 

“The nice part of working with the city is if you can’t walk the tour, you can be on your personal computer at home and see it all,” Joe said. “You’ll see the sign, additional history and audio.”

The project was in partnership with the Arts Council of Thayer County, Hebron Community Fund, City of Hebron, Thayer County Visitor’s Committee and the Nebraska Historical Society Foundation. 

“We really appreciate those people for supporting the project. A lot of people need to be thanked. Jackie Williamson has been wonderful to work with,” Joe said. “We spent two to three hours with the people we interviewed. They were wonderful and gracious.” 

“Jackie is so full of information. It’s fascinating to visit with her. She deserves credit,” Werner said. 

Cording added it was touching to see how many people have been involved in the project. The span of ages is from high school to 100 years old. 

Their research covered as much as possible. 

Werner said the newspapers gave clues on the history of the buildings, but advertisements didn’t list addresses and later on, just telephone numbers. 

“I tried to research the Hendershot building across from Lori’s,” Simonsen said. “It’s an old building. It has the name up there and is actually in two sections. The right section, the Hendershots had a meat market. We finally found research on that. They sold horses and mules. That’s one of the original families.”    

“Someplace along the line, we saw the old bank building was built on Richard’s lot. The articles didn’t give complete names sometimes,” Cording said. “When Erasmus Correll laid out this town, the direction of the lots change.” They had to figure out where the lots were from research at the courthouse. 

The four still have the South Tour to complete. It will cover Hebron Academy, the hospital, Willard Park and other historical sites. 

“We’ll have the stories of well known people that come from here,” Joe said. 

The past has met the future. 

“I think they (the founding fathers) would be very proud of us,” Werner said.