The History Of This Small Nebraska Town Is Strange But True
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Delana Lefevers
Author
Who doesn’t love a good origin story – especially when that story is full of ingenuity and an unwillingness to give up? The tiny village of Niobrara, Nebraska has such a history.
Niobrara was first settled in 1856 by a group of men who staked their claim at the confluence of the Missouri and Niobrara Rivers.
While the site was verdant and lovely, it proved dangerous in 1881. An ice jam on the Missouri River flooded the entire town with six feet of water.
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Many people would have simply given up, but not these hardy early Nebraskans.
The people of Niobrara rigged up their homes and buildings with house jacks, winches, pulleys, and work animals...and they simply moved the entire town a mile and a half to the southwest.
That story is amazing enough, but we kind of expect that ingenuity from early Nebraskans, right? Because they had so few resources and they had to work so hard for every plank of wood and pane of glass, it makes sense that pioneers would do something as crazy as picking up and moving every single building in a town.
But the most amazing part is that it happened a second time. In the 1970s, even though the town was supposedly safe from the river's waters thanks to the Gavins Point Dam, rising silt levels made it clear that something would again have to be done to save the town from the river's destructive forces.
After considering all solutions - including abandoning the town altogether - the people of Niobrara decided to again move the town site. Preparations were far more elaborate this time and planned well in advance. This move was less about winches and pulleys and more about civic planning and carefully laying out a whole new town site. Initial site preparation started in 1973 and was complete by the end of the '70s.
And the little town of Niobrara has sat at its current location ever since. The town, which initially relied on its located on the river for its commercial endeavors, ended up retreating from its destructive waters. But this story is proof that even mighty river waters are no match for a Nebraskan’s indomitable spirit.
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