Looking Back

1877The Clipper, one of three Fairbury newspapers, came out for the Greenback party. It succeeded the former Greenback champion in Fairbury, The Times, which had quit.A staple item at Fairbury food stores was dried venison. There may have been fewer deer in the county then than now, without the hazard of highway traffic.Peter Jansen sold his wool crop, washed, for 36 cents a pound, unwashed for 25 cents. He netted $3,000.1887The Fairbury Gazette boasted that 14 daily passenger trains stopped in Fairbury.George E. Jenkins and Mr. Lauterbach launched new boats on the Little Blue, a popular recreation place.Company D of the National Guard had secured the former skating rink for an armory. D. Ellsworth Brown was*to teach school in the Buckley District for $40 a month.1897The “promised prosperity” for the farmer was to be 25 cents a bushel for his corn and $1 a bushel for his wheat. John Shun estimated a yield of 75 bushels of oats per acre on his farm northwest of Fairbury.1907The initiative and referendum proposition for the city carried by a big majority in Fairbury.Most of the wheat had been cut by July 21, but continuing rains had caused many farmers to start stacking their bundles.1917Inspectors were particular as Fairbury's first paving was laid. Two batches of sand were rejected, and a faulty piece of curbing was ordered torn out and replaced.Jefferson County's initial quota for men for the armed forces in World War I was 125. More than that eventually were in service.C.J. Friesen's oats yield brought him $25 an acre at 60 cents a bushel. The crop yield, however, was generally poor. The wheat crop was a total failure. Corn was selling for $1.60 a bushel, wheat for $2.20 and eggs, 25 cents a dozen.1927The John Aude farm north of Gladstone sold for $15,200 to E.F. Overbeck at auction. The quarter section had a new house.On the Charles McGee farm north of Fairbury, the wheat yield on 100 acres averaged 26 ½ bushels per acre and brought $1.17 a bushel when marketed.Market prices in Fairbury included wheat $1.20 a bushel, corn $1, oats 34 cents, hogs 9.25. fat steers $13.25, spring chickens 22 cents a pound, hens 19 cents, butterfat 35 cents and eggs 18 cents a dozen.1937Lester Jones of Washington, Kan., moved his photography studio to Fairbury, locating on the east side of the square above the Welsh & Moore Hardware (formerly Fairbury Hardware).Virgil Marshall bought the Glenn R. LeRoy home at 1001 Eighth St., and the LeRoys moved to the residence of the late Mrs. J.R. LeRoy at 1223 H St.It was announced that Frank Conrad would retire August 1 at the First National Bank of Fairbury, and that Keith Sexton of Pasco, Washington, formerly with the bank, would succeed him.Air conditioning was becoming more common downtown often with wells put down to make use of the cold water available at shallow depths. To be thus cooled were the Mary-Etta Hotel dining room, Schreiner Drug and others.1947The city council voted to have alleys and garbage cans sprayed with insecticide to help prevent spread of infantile paralysis.Members of the county baseball league were Daykin, Diller, Endicott, Fairbury American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, Gladstone, Harbine and Plymouth.Arthur Traeger brought the first wheat to market in Fairbury. His 14-acre field yielded 33 1/2 bushels per acre and tested 63 pounds.A federal grant of $32,000 to the Fairbury Airport was to be doubled by state and local funds for improvements.1957Lester Sollenberger ended 20 years' ownership of the Fairbury Lockers, selling it to R.B. Felton. During that time the number of lockers increased from 300 to 1,280.Total precipitation for June was nine inches, bringing the year's total to 20.8 inches, about double the first six months of 1956.“Total mill levy for Fairbury property owners was to be 68.1 mills. County, city and school district levies all went up.“Television Tales” was the theme for Diller's 61st annual picnic parade.1967Dale Starr and Robert Buckley joined Fletcher Peters as Fairbury members of the Vision 17 board. Vision 17's goal was economic development in 17 southeastern Nebraska counties.A $1 million increase in county property valuation allowed a drop of .32 mill, to 10.24, in the county budget. A new budget item was the ambulance service. Annual picnic parade themes were “Echoes of Indian Creek” at Diller and “Tales of a Century” at Western.1977Raggedy Ann Home Extension Club float was a prize winner in the Western Picnic parade.Fairbury's city council approved a single-family residence garbage collection increase from $2 to $3 a month.“America at Play” was the Diller Picnic parade theme. Local grain market prices (and a year previous) included wheat $2.02 ($3.24), yellow corn $1.81 ($2.78), milo $2.65 ($4.50) and soybeans $5.50 ($5.80).1987Steve Behrends of Diller and Stefanie Williams of Fairbury were crowned Junior Dairy Prince and Princess at the Jefferson County dairy show. Ruth Wells of Plymouth was named to the Queen's Court of Recruiting at Mary Kay Cosmetics' annual national seminar. Wells received the award for outstanding achievement as a professional business woman.Harold Gerberding was presented with a “Pat on the Shoulder” award during 4-H Night activities at the Jefferson County Fair. Gerberding was recognized for this 40 years of service as superintendent of the Open Class Farm Products Division.

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