The first village in the county was old Nonpareil,
first called Buchanan because many of the settlers in the immediate vicinity
came from the town of Buchanan, Michigan and desired that the new town be called after their
old home town.
This name was later changed to Nonpareil, at the instigation of
Gene Heath, eidtor and publisher of its sole newspaper called “Gene Heath’s
Grip,” in imitation of those frontier publications,~ “Bill Barlow’s
Budget” and “Bill Nye’s Boonierang.”
Mr. Heath being a printer, the word Nonpareil which is the
name of printers’ type appealed to him as more euphonious than that of
Buchanan.
He being a Democrat and influential with the then Democratic
Administration, he was influential enough to have the postoffice named in
accordance with his wishes — Nonpareil.
This village, at the time the county seat was located
there, consisted of two general stores, a blacksmith shop, two livery barns,
one bank, one newspaper, two hardware stores, a harness shop, one law office,
one feed store, lumber yard and agricultural implement depot combined.
Nonpareil ceased to exist soon after the removal of the county seat to Hemingford
in 1891. There is nothing left to mark its site except a frame school house
which yet stands five miles south and one mile west of Flemingford.
The village of Heiningford was founded and was named by several natives of Canada, among whom were R. McLeod, J. W. Roberts, J. S. Paradis, J. K. Green, Joseph Flare and others. The name Hemingford
was adopted because of old associations with a town of that name in Canada
The postoffice was called Carlyle, and was located
four miles due east of the present site of Hemingford, and F. W. Milek was the
first postmaster. This post-office, with the consent of the postal department,
was transferred to Hentingford, but still retained its name Carlyle for a year
afterward.
There was another village and postoffice fourteen
imiles due east of Hemingford, called Box Butte postoffice, but it never
boasted but one store, postoffice, a blacksmith shop, a notary public, and
real estate office. Like most villages, it had what was then well known as a
Locator’s office, a term now obsolete. The business of this functionary was to
secure government plats from the land office of the district in which he was
located, showing the government land unfiled upon, and which for a fee of ten
to twenty-five dollars he would show to the prospective homesteader,. prepare his
filing papers and iocate him upon the vacant quarter section which he selected.
Another village was thirteen miles west and one mile
north of Hemingford, which was called Lawn. It had a postoffice and store
combined.
The city of Alliance was unknown or unheard of at the organization of the
county. It really had its inception. on the. 27th day of May, 1887. On this
date the department of public lands of the state of Nebraska, through its commissioner, advertised in the public
press that all school lands in Box Butte county, which consisted of sections
sixteen and thirty-six in each township would be offered for sale to the
highest bidder on the following terms:
No land would be sold for less than seven dollars per
acre.
If a bid of seven dollars was received and no higher.
bid made, it would be sold to the bidder on payment of one-tenth of the
purchase price down, and the balance in twenty-one years at six percent
interest.
If not sold, it would be offered for lease at its
appraised value, the lessee to pay six percent per annum on that appraisement
which ranged from one dollar and a quarter to four dollars per acre.
Source:
History of Western Nebraska and Its People - 1921