08/12/2026
HISTORICAL MEMORIES
AUGUST 1916 to 2025
1916 – A demonstration took place to demonstrate the use of kerosene tractors.
1936 – Folks hereabouts quit paying any attention to temperatures---they just knew it was a hundred and something. The extra points above didn’t seem to mean very much. Another solid week of 100 plus readings.
1936 – The boys up at the Union Market had a new pet. Hap found a nice sized tarantula in a crate of bananas Saturday night. It was still alive Monday morning, and he was a big fellow.
1950 – The first event to be staged by the Gothenburg Roping & Riding Club on their new grounds was calf roping and bronco riding. About 1000 people gathered to see the show.
1950 – Trainloads of war materials going though headed west included lots of tanks. Once they passed through Gothenburg, they were still several weeks away from Korea.
1966 – Campers at Lafayette Park would be charged a $1.50 a night the following summer instead of the $1.00 fee that had been charged.
1971 - Harold Peterson opened his new Western
Restaurant (now Mi Ranchito) alongside the Western Motel.
1975 – The old Lincoln Hiway Camp on west Highway 30 will be the site of a new Co-op building.
1975 – Gasline is showing a variety of prices across the state. The statewide average is now 57.5 cents a gallon.
1986 – Working on his Eagle Scout project, Chris Healey planted 23 trees along Lake Avenue. Assisted by Brandon Mann, Healey dug holes, dropped in the trees and soaked them with water.
1990 – The City will dedicate a four-pillar war memorial on the southwest side of Lake Helen.
1991 – “Celebrate America in the All-American City” was to be the theme for the 77th Annual Harvest Festival.
1991 – Sunday off-sale beer and liquor sales were approved by the City Council members considering it an economic issue.
2001 – Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, at 137
families strong, celebrated 100 years of existence in Gothenburg. Without a Catholic church in the early days of the town, faithful members traveled by horses or on foot to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Willow Island for
services.
2006 – A newly designated byway aimed at leisurely travelers would include Gothenburg as part of the Lincoln Highway Scenic & Historic Byway. The byway begins in Blair, passes through Overton, Lexington, Cozad and Gothenburg in Dawson County, and leaves the state at Bushnell.
* PICTURE 1991 – Dedication of the Nebraska historical marker for the Swedish Crosses Cemetery northeast of town took place. Family members from the Berg family were in attendance. In 2025 an Eagle Scout project, spearheaded by Brigham Ricley and Burke Finke and supported by the Chamber Tourism Committee, placed a wrought iron
fence around the cemetery, refurbished the Nebraska historical marker, added a pathway from the road up to the cemetery all in an effort to preserve a part of our
