History Buffs..

[foxtrot_xray]

Question for you history buffs..

 

While driving across the Midwest, at one point I noticed a handful of stations off the main highway. Examples -

NO0098 and

NO0104

 

They connect a line (mainly) between a point SW of Valentine, NE and Thedford, NE (through an old place (old town that really isn't anymore) called Brownlee, NE).

 

This 'road' no longer exists - in fact, in most of the area, you can't even see the old roadbed - the main route now is US83, to the east of about 2 miles or more.

 

What's interesting (to me, anyways), is the lack of any visible evidence of a road. However, the descriptions clearly name a road:

 NO0106'ABOUT 3.9 MILES NORTH ALONG THE SIMEON ROAD FROM THE COUNTY
NO0106'COURTHOUSE AT THEDFORD, THOMAS COUNTY, AT THE NORTH SLOPE OF A

for one near Thedford, NE, and

 NO0099'ABOUT 4.8 MILES SOUTH ALONG THE THEDFORD ROAD FROM THE POST OFFICE
NO0099'AT BROWNLEE, 15 FEET WEST OF THE CENTER OF AN AUTOMOBILE GATE,

Interestingly, I can't find any other reference to this road. Searching for 'Simeon Road' produces hits from GC here, but that's about it. Simeon, NE produces a location, probably an old town as well, north of Brownlee, where a couple traverse lines meet.

 

Anyone have any resources to look up this old road?

 

--Me.

[ArtMan]

Maybe historic USGS topo map? http://nationalmap.gov/historical/

 

Or possibly vintage state highway maps, or even county maps, none of which are likely to be online (though I haven't searched).

 

As an aside, I have to say one of the great pleasures of benchmarking over the years has been reading decades-old descriptions that identify a tire store as a former A&P supermarket, or a distressed commercial strip as a onetime major U.S. highway (or, for that matter, onetime rural lane). And outmoded terminology shows up all the time. There are, for example, numerous marks that use a definitely politically incorrect term for a mental hospital, including an intersection station I see all the time.

 

ArtMan in Saint Louis

Question for you history buffs..

 

While driving across the Midwest, at one point I noticed a handful of stations off the main highway. Examples -

NO0098 and

NO0104

 

They connect a line (mainly) between a point SW of Valentine, NE and Thedford, NE (through an old place (old town that really isn't anymore) called Brownlee, NE).

 

This 'road' no longer exists - in fact, in most of the area, you can't even see the old roadbed - the main route now is US83, to the east of about 2 miles or more.

 

What's interesting (to me, anyways), is the lack of any visible evidence of a road. However, the descriptions clearly name a road:

 NO0106'ABOUT 3.9 MILES NORTH ALONG THE SIMEON ROAD FROM THE COUNTY
NO0106'COURTHOUSE AT THEDFORD, THOMAS COUNTY, AT THE NORTH SLOPE OF A

for one near Thedford, NE, and

 NO0099'ABOUT 4.8 MILES SOUTH ALONG THE THEDFORD ROAD FROM THE POST OFFICE
NO0099'AT BROWNLEE, 15 FEET WEST OF THE CENTER OF AN AUTOMOBILE GATE,

Interestingly, I can't find any other reference to this road. Searching for 'Simeon Road' produces hits from GC here, but that's about it. Simeon, NE produces a location, probably an old town as well, north of Brownlee, where a couple traverse lines meet.

 

Anyone have any resources to look up this old road?

 

--Me.

[Bill93]

I sent you an email through this site. If you didn't get it, try sending me one through the site.

 

I was suggesting contacting a professional surveyor who is a history buff and has done numerous interesting recoveries in Nebraska and SD.

[mloser]

I did a little looking around and found a Simeon East School listed on Simeon Rd south of Valentine. Looking at Google Maps I found a sort of north-easterly bound roadish thing from there, and then going to USGS Historical Maps I found a string of survey marks along that roadway that follows Schlagel Creek. I don't have Google Earth at work so I can't easily find out about the marks along that dirt road.

[+joshuar9476]

I did a little looking around and found a Simeon East School listed on Simeon Rd south of Valentine. Looking at Google Maps I found a sort of north-easterly bound roadish thing from there, and then going to USGS Historical Maps I found a string of survey marks along that roadway that follows Schlagel Creek. I don't have Google Earth at work so I can't easily find out about the marks along that dirt road.

 

There are a number of examples of this in my home county. There was a rail line that no longer exists and is now farming fields. The best example is JZ2132 and JZ2133 which are now on property located on Honda's newest facility.