Genealogists, find information about Kimball at NEGenWeb Project.

The Plains Historical Museum

The Plains Historical Museum houses regional displays depicting eras from the cowboy to modern man. View an outstanding arrowhead collection and many rare & unique displays. Many local historical artifacts are on permanent loan to this outstanding and friendly museum. The museum is open in the summer.

For tours call (308) 235-2001 or (308) 235-2593

Kimball History

Caboose Park reminds citizens that Kimball traces its history back to 1867 when the Union Pacific Railroad construction reached the site of the present day town's location. The railroad established a station, calling it Antelope, because large herds of antelope roamed in the area, and the tiny settlement of Antelopeville sprang up beside it. For a number of years, the only activity in the vicinity consisted of railroad crews stopping for food and rest, and the huge Bay State Livestock Company, cattle operation. In 1877, the little town's first post office was established, and in 1881, the first school was started through the efforts of Mary Lynch, wife of a section foreman for the railroad.

The Union Pacific began selling off its land in 1884, opening the way for settlement. By the end of 1885, the town had a hotel, two professional offices, a newspaper, several retail shops and a new name - Kimball. The new name came from an official of the Union Pacific Railroad, Thomas L. Kimball, later to become vice-president and general manager of the railroad.

Kimball County was established in 1889 and its first courthouse was built in 1890 on the city park land. Kimball's history fell into cycles of boom years followed by bust years. During boom years, population grew, agriculture thrived, and commerce flourished. Hard times and declining population typically accompanied drought, poor agricultural production and/or low prices for farm commodities. Each period of growth surpassed the previous boom, and there has been overall, if erratic general expansion of the population and production of the county.

The Homestead Act and the Kincaid Act fostered the settlement of Kimball County in the early years from 1885 - 1910. Farming was the major source of revenue, and this improved dramatically when irrigation was developed. As the farmers prospered, so did the local businessmen and economic development advanced rapidly. Notable landmarks of Kimball's early-day prosperity are the "old stone store", the Corner Bar building, built in 1894, and the Fraternal Hall, built in 1904, which now houses the Kimball Museum. Both buildings stand at the corner of Second and Chestnut Streets, and are listed in the national registry of historic places. It was during this period that Kimball's first manufacturing plant began operating. Pat Maginnis, a blacksmith in Kimball's earliest days, patented an irrigation flume, a trough designed to carry irrigation water across ravines. Flumes were manufactured in his factory in Kimball for export to many locations in the U.S. and abroad.

The Oliver Reservoir dam was built in 1911 at a cost of $250,000, most of which was raised from the sale of bonds in small denominations to area residents. The first irrigation waters flowed out of the Oliver Reservoir in 1912, over flumes constructed by the P. Maginnis factory, to turn the Lodgepole Valley green. Oliver Reservoir provided irrigation water to Lodgepole Valley farmers until 1976, when the dam became unsafe and the lake was drained because the irrigation district could not afford the cost to repair it. After a massive local fund raising effort, assistance from state funds, and substantial volunteer work, the dam was rebuilt in 1979-80 for use as a recreational, wildlife conservation, and flood control facility. The 280-acre lake is used and enjoyed by area residents and tourists year-round, and serves as a reminder of what a local community can accomplish when working in a unified effort.

Agriculture has continued to be a major factor in Kimball's economy, despite the occasional recurrence of hard times. During one of the tough years, Kimball's merchants decided to demonstrate their appreciation of and support for the farming sector by sponsoring the first Farmers Day on December 15,1913. On that first of many Farmers Days, the local hotels and cafes served 960 free meals to farmers and their families. The traditional celebration has grown to include an annual parade, band concert, games, dance and a free hamburger feed serving as many as 7,000 hamburgers to farmers and visitors from near and far.

Transportation has been an important feature in Kimball's development. The Union Pacific provided passenger service to bring in the early day settlers and freight service for shipping out the country's produce and manufactured goods. Although passenger service was discontinued in 1971, the railroad remains essential to local agricultural producers. The Lincoln Memorial Highway was routed through Kimball in the teens and was hailed enthusiastically by local businessmen. Telephone poles along the highway route through the county were painted with the Lincoln highway marker, 400 trees were planted and a new sidewalk was constructed from the high school to the downtown area along Third Street. A highway was built connecting Kimball with Gering and Scottsbluff to the north, now a heavily traveled route linking Colorado with western Nebraska and the Dakotas. And finally, air travel came to Kimball, with the first airport being built north of town at a cost of $6,400. The airport was later moved to its present location two miles south of Kimball on Highway 71, and was expanded in 1987 with the construction of a new, longer runway to handle larger aircraft. The construction of Interstate 80 highway through Kimball County in 1969-73 established the Nebraska road as one of the heaviest-traveled trucking routes in the western United States.

Oil exploration and production provided the biggest boom in Kimball's history, following the first discovery in Kimball County in Nebraska, 1950. A vigorous oil field service industry developed to meet the needs of the drilling crews and to service the producing wells in the area. Kimball County's oil production grew steadily throughout the 1950's and led the state for barrels produced in 1960. Kimball had earned the title "Oil Capital of Nebraska." The population of Kimball more than doubled between 1950 and 1960, and the City responded with more goods, services, and facilities for the growing population. New businesses sprang up, existing businesses prospered, and the city stretched to accommodate all, with expanded capacity for utility services, new schools, churches and housing.

On the heels of the oil boom came yet another boom and another title: "Missile Center - U.S.A." The Atlas missile site south of town was completed in 1961. In 1962, construction began on the vast complex of Minuteman Missile silos surrounding Kimball. The influx of missile construction workers into Kimball and the surrounding area resulted in aid to Kimball schools under the Federal Aid to Impacted Areas program. A new $1.2 million high school was built in 1963, utilizing substantial federal aid money.

It was in 1968 that Kimball received its own obsolete Titan 1 intercontinental ballistic missile, and erected it in Gotte Park in east Kimball, where it stands today, proclaiming Kimball as "Missile Center - U.S.A."

As the oil activity declined and the missile construction project neared completion Kimball's leaders took a more serious approach to economic development and industrial expansion. Forward Kimball Industries, Inc., was incorporated. Money raised from the sale of stock in FKI was used to attract new business and to assist in getting companies to move to Kimball.

In 1966, George Risk Industries, Inc., moved to Kimball from Columbus, Nebraska following the sale of $150,000 of its stock to Forward Kimball Industries, Inc. GRI has grown from an original labor force under 20 people to as many as 190 workers at one time, and is presently stabilized at approximately 200 plus employees. The company manufactures a range of high-technology products, ranging from keyboards and switches, to security systems and electronic pay telephones.

Rite-A-Way Industries, Inc. began building relocatable motel units in Kimball in 1968, then placed many of the units at selected locations along the Interstate highway system in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Wyoming. The bright gold roofs of these "Interstate Inns" makes them readily seen and recognized. This company also continues to diversify and expand, adapting to changing consumer preferences.

Ohter additions to Kimball's industrial scene are Castronics, Inc., a pipe-threading factory, in Kimball's industrial park on east Highway 30, and Clean Harbors, a hazardous waste disposal plant, south of Kimball on Highway 71.

Kimball has weathered the recurring hard times, has met the challenges of the boom years, and has attained a maturity which is responsive to change. It is a city offering excellent facilities and services, and superior quality of life. Kimball welcomes the opportunity for another growth cycle, and proudly remembers her heritage.