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A
New Town in a New County
Grant,
Nebraska, July 21.—[Special Correspondence.}—Your correspondent while passing over
the state very often hears the question asked, where is Grant, Nebraska. Grant is
located in the center of the new county of Perkins.
The
history of this growing village
that is making rapid strides
towards a city is as follows:
Early
in the spring of 1886 a company of men associated as the Grant Townsite company
came to the center of what was known at that time as ,the south half of Keith County
and plotted a town,
to which, they gave the name of Grant, in honor of the late lamented, general. They were
the instruments of locating immediately on the site a general store, a printing
office, a blacksmith shop and a restaurant. This formed the nucleus of the
town. The number of business houses increased gradually during the remainder of
the year and Grant had become the chief
starting point of that part of Keith County.
A
Railroad
In
the spring: of the same year. 1886, the advance guard of a railroad, subsequently ascertained
to have been out by the Burlington system, were reported locating a line
through the county.
The first intelligence which reached the then sparse population of the central
part of the county, though true, was received in doubt. It was said the road was heading for
Cheyenne City, some 200 miles west and had already been constructed
to a point 100 miles east.. When it is
appreciated that at that time the territory
through which this road was to run consisted of raw prairie with scarcely asettlement in fifty miles, the tremendous risk of the enterprise will at once
appear as well as the reason why men were increndous. But the engineers themselves, who were in due
time seen drawing
their lines and driving their grade stakes summarily put an end to all doubt. They
were out in the
interest of the Burlington, they said, and it. was expected to have the road
completed to Grant sometime the following year.
By November the contract for the construction of the dump had been let
and a heavy force of graders put to work.
In
April of the following year the company began to buy rolling stock. It was
pushed forward with energy characteristic or the company, the track reaching Grant
June 27 and Cheyenne City in the following November. With the completion of the road came
the great advance in the realty values in the newly opened country. The
land which two years before went begging for settlement was eagerly sought.
A
Chance
Meanwhile
the introduction of the new order of things was not without its wholesome influence
upon the hitherto isolated village of Grant.
There was a change between being
twenty miles out of the world’s door. A
period of bustling activity set in and has not lagged up to the time. Grant as
originally located was a mile from
the track When the road come she
promptly loaded herself on wheels and went down to welcome it.
Under
the stimulating influences of the railroad she began to grow. Its history from that day to this has
been identical with that of any favorably situated town in the west. In February of the present year the newspapers of Grant published a carefully prepared estimate of the wealth of Grant. From
the statement it appeared that the improvements amounted to about $150,000,
and there is therefore, a balance of $400,000 to represent the growth of one
year. Having been successful in securing
the county seat of the new county, Grant received another impetus in growth,
and up to the present time has added fully $250,000 in various improvement to
the above figures. The astounding growth
of the town during the past year as indicated by the figures given has not been
the result of an unreasonable boon, but is the just equivalent of a rapidly
developing country. Grant grows because
she cannot avoid it – because it is her fate.
The town has grown because the country has demanded it and it will
continue to grow for the same reason.
It
is situated in the center of the most magnificent county in Nebraska, is the
most access point in the country for hundreds of miles in any direction,
and has at present the kind of men interested in its welfare whoa re determined
to keep it to the front. Her business
men are willing to sacrifice both money and time that her every interest may be
properly attended. She invites men of
the same class to cast their lot with her.
They are the kind of people who make a town. The hopeful man who comes west to dig gold
with the spade of idleness, or to enrich himself from the labors of others, is
not wanted in Grant. The idler is a
curse upon the face of the earth everywhere.
Grant has not use for him.
If
you will take the trouble to examine a map you will observe that Nebraska has
no representative western city. It is a
matter of importance to the state that she should have one.
Railroads
Since
Grant is at this time the best town in the western part of the state it will
become an objective point for all railroads seeking this country. Of these there are many of which the Sioux
City & Denver, Northwestern, the Rock Island, the Montana, Kansas &
Texas and the Union Pacific are among the most certain. It is unnecessary to state to the American
reader that the good towns are always
sought by the railroads. Indications
point to Grant as such a town, and the assertion is ventured that not a railroad
will enter the county in the future which does not come to this city.
Crops
To
attempt to describe the outlook for the bounteous crop that is now in sight
would be more than pen could do, and justice.
It will suffice to say that the crops were never better in any new
county in the west. The plows and
harrows, held by the toiling hands of the sturdy pioneers, who looking
trustingly above, saw in the sunshine and the clouds a promise too that has
been fulfilled -- the desert has moved
on beyond the Rockies.
Omaha
Daily Herald – July 21, 1888
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