Gage County

I spent this afternoon revisiting Gage County, attempting to find a photograph worthy of being the final addition to ninety-three. It certainly was a gorgeous day for it, a reprieve from the almost daily thunderstorms we've been dealing with of late. I'm not sure I'm ready to call the day a success for myself, but we'll see.

The building in the photograph is the Elijah Filley Stone Barn, located a mile or so south of the town of Filley. The unusual barn was built in the 1870's and now finds itself on the National Register of Historic Places.

Also visited: Cortland, Pickrell, Rockford, Holmesville, Blue Springs and Wymore.

The (almost) final map

It's been awhile since I updated the ninety-three map, but here it is for your viewing pleasure. There is one red dot for every location I stopped to attempt to take a photograph. I was going to try to count them all, but I kept losing track before I even got halfway through the map.

All told, I spent nearly 40 days photographing Nebraska and shot over 4000 exposures along the way.

And I'd love to do it all over again.

Wynot Stop Here?

Three years ago today, I began what would eventually become ninety-three. I didn't have any idea that the series would turn into this big of a production, an obsession that has stuck with me ever since that day. The good news is that I'm just about to wrap up the project for good. After my travels today, I feel as if there is only one county's photograph that I need to improve upon.

It was a very moody gray day when I woke up in O'Neill this morning. The sun came out as I went north towards South Dakota and the clouds didn't return until I came through Wisner on the way home. My main focus today was Cedar County and I visited almost every town in the county that I had not stopped in to this point. I'm much happier with what I was able to come up with this time around.

The above photograph is of the now defunct drive-in movie theatre in O'Neill. It's definitely seen better days. The only operating drive-in theatre left in Nebraska that I know of is in the town of Neligh. That theatre had Toy Story 3 listed on the marquee when I drove by yesterday.

Edited to add... A reader points out that there is a drive-in theatre still operating in Alliance. So that makes two.


And another photograph, from my trek through southern South Dakota that went over both the Fort Randall and Gavins Point dams. The old worn out Pepsi logo was on the side of a building next to a car wash in downtown Wagner.

Also visited: Pickstown, Marty, Tyndall and Tabor, South Dakota. Spencer, Butte, Menominee, Fordyce, Constance, Bow Valley, Wynot, St. Helena and Obert, Nebraska.

A failed return to Rose

The photograph above pretty much sums up my travels to Rock County today. The Elkhorn River has been flooding all the way from its beginning to its end near Omaha. After a detour near West Point on the way up here, my plans to revisit the area around the near non-existent town of Rose were foiled by the water over the road shown above. While I have a lot of confidence in my Subaru, I do feel it's best suited for dry land.


Despite the flooding doing its best to get in the way, today was a beautiful day once the clouds cleared in the morning. Best of all, due to the highway to Rose being under water, I had time to take a short drive on Nebraska Highway 7 north of Bassett to the Niobrara River. I always forget just how impressive the elevation changes coming into the Niobrara valley can be, and this may be the best place I've found to cross the river. The photograph above just doesn't do the scenery out there justice.

It's another drive to add to my list of the best ones in the state. I'll have to put together a list for this blog one of these days. If you're heading out to see the Sandhills, it's well worth the drive up here to see the Niobrara on the way up to Valentine.

Also visited: Wisner, Neligh, Long Pine and Newport.