Offseason Thread Deluxe: Two Nebraska Geography Questions from a Swimtown-born Idiot

[rr55]

So you probably know Brad, Greg, and then the Barley boys. Kay, Ester’s daughter was my mom’s age and they’re still very close. We very well could have crossed paths at some point.

Yeah I know Brad all too well, he's my neighbor. His son is the nephew I lived with. Golf with the Bartley boys every summer in their dad's memorial tournament. Yeah there's a great chance we may have crossed paths.

 

[...TrueColors...]

Yeah I know Brad all too well, he's my neighbor. His son is the nephew I lived with. Golf with the Bartley boys every summer in their dad's memorial tournament. Yeah there's a great chance we may have crossed paths.

I was at Bob’s funeral and went to Ester’s afterwards and drank until we couldn’t see! If you asked Brad or Ester about “Joyce’s son Ethan” thats me! Josh Bartley keeps telling me to come play golf in that tournament every year. I’ll probably play this year!

Was Shane the gentlemen you lived with?

 

[hothouse_corn]

This is the most Nebraskan thread every. Someone mentions an obscure, tiny NE town, and a few minutes later, someone else knows them.

And @...TrueColors... is correct about the east, west, and central points of demarcation.

 

[rr55]

I was at Bob’s funeral and went to Ester’s afterwards and drank until we couldn’t see! If you asked Brad or Ester about “Joyce’s son Ethan” thats me! Josh Bartley keeps telling me to come play golf in that tournament every year. I’ll probably play this year!

Was Shane the gentlemen you lived with?

Yeah you should play. It's a great day drinking with everyone. Yep that's him. Was best man in his wedding.

 

[BIGSTICK67]

Having went to school at UNK, I never ventured west of Kearney that much. I’ve always just considered anything west to be Western Nebraska

What years?

 

[...TrueColors...]

Yeah you should play. It's a great day drinking with everyone. Yep that's him. Was best man in his wedding.

Yeah you should play. It's a great day drinking with everyone. Yep that's him. Was best man in his wedding.

So Shane’s dad Brad and my mom are cousins. I was Ester’s favorite for awhile. I don’t know if that’s changed or not in the last few months. Lol. So yeah. We’ve definitely crossed paths at some point. Josh Bartley and I are buds.

Dennis Bartels use to farm our home place for awhile. He was my cousin. I was baptized at Zion and basically everyone in my family is buried in that cemetery behind the church there.

 

[rr55]

So Shane’s dad Brad and my mom are cousins. I was Ester’s favorite for awhile. I don’t know if that’s changed or not in the last few months. Lol. So yeah. We’ve definitely crossed paths at some point. Josh Bartley and I are buds.

Dennis Bartels use to farm our home place for awhile. He was my cousin. I was baptized at Zion and basically everyone in my family is buried in that cemetery behind the church there.

Yeah guaranteed we about had to.

My dad was great friends with Dennis, he played a lot of softball with him. Don't know if you guys called him it, but I only knew Dennis by his nickname, Twerp.

I went to Zion for school. I grew up about a half mile from the church and school.

 

[Alum-Ni]

A little off track, but I'd argue the Nebraska Sandhills begin around the Antelope County area and westward of there. Pretty sandy area there

 

[Daddy]

I grew up in Omaha, came to Lincoln for school and never left. I had cousins who grew up in Crete and we'd go there several times a year so I grew up thinking that was Western Nebraska, lol. We vacationed in Colorado a few summers and it was to the point where we'd head to Crete and I would ask if we could just go to Colorado because I thought we were so close. Sounds dumb but that mindset has kind of stuck with me.

The distinction I try to make to make myself feel better is to say 'Out West' unless it's truly 'Western Nebraska'...so pretty much, Central Nebraska is out west and Western Nebraska is Out West or Western Nebraska.

 

[...TrueColors...]

Yeah guaranteed we about had to.

My dad was great friends with Dennis, he played a lot of softball with him. Don't know if you guys called him it, but I only knew Dennis by his nickname, Twerp.

I went to Zion for school. I grew up about a half mile from the church and school.

He wasn’t twerp to us. He was “runt.”

 

[hothouse_corn]

I grew up in Omaha, came to Lincoln for school and never left. I had cousins who grew up in Crete and we'd go there several times a year so I grew up thinking that was Western Nebraska, lol. We vacationed in Colorado a few summers and it was to the point where we'd head to Crete and I would ask if we could just go to Colorado because I thought we were so close. Sounds dumb but that mindset has kind of stuck with me.

I think this is the typical Omaha native's perspective, unless their grandparents were still in chadron,alliance, scottsbluff, etc.

Then again, I grew up in the East-West geographical center of the state.

 

[BushAK]

I consider anything between York and North Platte to be “central” Nebraska. At the furthest East, I would say that line is maybe at Lexington or Gothenburg. Everything west of North Platte, in my opinion, is Western Nebraska.
I always think in terms of farming. Central Nebraska is big corn country. Once you get out of there you’re in cattle country which in my opinion is western Nebraska.
Funny story, I’m from a very small town where I spent the first 13 years of my life called Tobias, Nebraska. Right next to that town, in Saline County which is southeast Nebraska, is a town called “Western, Nebraska.” So when someone asks about Western Nebraska I get a chuckle. The comma makes all the difference.

I know where Tobias is. My dad's family is from Friend and we still own two farms there. Funny story, my first year up here in 2010 my school hosted a big wrestling tournament. I overheard two wrestling coaches talking about flying back to Beaver Crossing to go deer hunting. Basically had 3 guys, in bush Alaska, with Saline county connections.

 

[BBTown Bomber]

I consider anything between York and North Platte to be “central” Nebraska. At the furthest East, I would say that line is maybe at Lexington or Gothenburg. Everything west of North Platte, in my opinion, is Western Nebraska.
I always think in terms of farming. Central Nebraska is big corn country. Once you get out of there you’re in cattle country which in my opinion is western Nebraska.
Funny story, I’m from a very small town where I spent the first 13 years of my life called Tobias, Nebraska. Right next to that town, in Saline County which is southeast Nebraska, is a town called “Western, Nebraska.” So when someone asks about Western Nebraska I get a chuckle. The comma makes all the difference.

Guess who used to deliver Falstaff to Western?? Oh yeah....you already knew that.....😎

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[Blackshirts_Win_'ships]

Thanks @...TrueColors... Always nice to be reminded of home and conversations with my grandma regarding being related to 2/3 of the town.

 

[kenyanfeline]

**Note: I dual-posted this on RSS, because it's one of the few times that having just a shit-ton of opinionated Nebraskans will make for good reading, but I definitely wanted any and all opinions here, too**

These usually get a good amount of discussion going, and I suspect about 95% of the posters here have better insight into this than I do (and there is room for interpretation with both). First, as I note in the title, I was born in Omaha to a maternal family that has long been in far-Western Cockeyes as farmers and then eventually settled over there. A lot of my family in my parents' generation actually went to Cockeyes State, but everyone in my generation was either somewhere in Nebraska or wherever state they settled in after moving. I didn't live in-state very long and mostly grew up in Northern Virginia (where I currently live).

That being said, I have a fascination with Nebraska geography, so I was hoping you all could opine on the following:

1) Outside of football geography, wherein the demarcation line is either 72nd or 144th St. in Omaha, what do you consider to be the start of "Western Nebraska"? Do most people only think in terms of two regions or is it more common to think about "Central Nebraska," too?

2) Say you were just looking at Google Maps and have it focused on the whole state. What portion would you point to if asked to identify the largest area where there are basically no or very few people? Another way of asking: What's the most-isolated area of the state? It doesn't have to be coextensive with a county, series of counties, or something like that, but feel free to answer however.

The most isolated pet of the state is probably Cherry county. It has a landmass of just over 6000 square miles, yet a population of only 5,700. 2,700 of those people live in the town of Valentine.

The 3,000 people left could have the rest of the landmass of Cherry County divided evenly between them, and each person would get 2 square miles or 2,500 acres to themselves.

Lots of things to do in Cherry County, though. Float down the Niobrara, ice fish on the reserve, Visit Smith falls, just to name a few.

 

[BBTown Bomber]

The most isolated pet of the state is probably Cherry county. It has a landmass of just over 6000 square miles, yet a population of only 5,700. 2,700 of those people live in the town of Valentine.

The 3,000 people left could have the rest of the landmass of Cherry County divided evenly between them, and each person would get 2 square miles or 2,500 acres to themselves.

Lots of things to do in Cherry County, though. Float down the Niobrara, ice fish on the reserve, Visit Smith falls, just to name a few.

Sioux County......1,300 sq miles with a population of 1450.

And if you’ve ever made the drive from Mitchell to Harrison you’ll wonder where in the hell are the 1,450 people..... 😂

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[Jim14510]

2,700 of those people live in the town of Valentine.

That's the legal residents. There's actually about 87,000 people that live in Valentine.

 

[Cash68847]

The most isolated pet of the state is probably Cherry county. It has a landmass of just over 6000 square miles, yet a population of only 5,700. 2,700 of those people live in the town of Valentine.

The 3,000 people left could have the rest of the landmass of Cherry County divided evenly between them, and each person would get 2 square miles or 2,500 acres to themselves.

Lots of things to do in Cherry County, though. Float down the Niobrara, ice fish on the reserve, Visit Smith falls, just to name a few.

The drive from Thedford to Valentine is a very long drive. It would be the worst place in Nebraska to get caught up in a storm. .

 

[LoudHogRider]

Sioux County......1,300 sq miles with a population of 1450.

And if you’ve ever made the drive from Mitchell to Harrison you’ll wonder where in the hell are the 1,450 people..... 😂

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They're all in their basements hiding from former Falstaff truck drivers! 😱

I actually miss tooling out to Chadron to watch my daughter play volleyball out there. There was a fast route ... and many meandering routes. Usually took the fast one out, and just kind of worked our way south and east until we got home. Lots of great open roads out that way to "blow out the carbon" on the convertible or twist the throttle on a Harley. Always enjoyed sliding into a small town cafe or bar to break up the drive and visit a bit to learn about life in whatever hamlet or village we found ourselves in. Good times. It will be nice to have them back someday, post-pandemic.

 

[BBTown Bomber]

They're all in their basements hiding from former Falstaff truck drivers! 😱

I actually miss tooling out to Chadron to watch my daughter play volleyball out there. There was a fast route ... and many meandering routes. Usually took the fast one out, and just kind of worked our way south and east until we got home. Lots of great open roads out that way to "blow out the carbon" on the convertible or twist the throttle on a Harley. Always enjoyed sliding into a small town cafe or bar to break up the drive and visit a bit to learn about life in whatever hamlet or village we found ourselves in. Good times. It will be nice to have them back someday, post-pandemic.

We have a lot of fun with each other on message boards but I want you to know that you’ve hit a real nerve (in a good way) with yore description of life on the road in rural, desolate western Nebraska.

Every road trip that Mrs. Bomber and I have taken for 30 years (throughout 22 states) includes the side trips, the unmarked roads, the small town bars, the rural gas stations, etc., etc. (Jerome, AZ one of the most recent back in late Feb 2020)

I love the fact that our entire fam views this old guy as one of the greatest story tellers ever. And it all comes from real life travels. You are I are two of the lucky ones, amigo. Blessed.....

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