Situated in the Southern Part of Jefferson County on the Burlington & Missouri Railroad--Seventy-eight Miles From Lincoln--Population Four Hundred and Seventy-five
Diller is a thriving little town located in the eastern part of Jefferson county, on the main line of the Burlington & Missouri railroad, between Kansas City and Denver. It has a population of 475, which will soon reach 500. There are three general merchandise stores, two hardware, two drug and one variety store, one bank, two blacksmith shops, two millinery and a great many other shops, etc., too numerous to mention. Diller has had considerable competition but nevertheless it has gained a foothold which fully assures its future prosperity. Hundreds of cars of grain and stock have been shipped out the past year and the number is increasing rapidly. During the summer several large brick buildings will be built and new stores started in them as soon as completed. The prospects are good for another railroad or two in addition to the one already in our midst. The opening is grand for all kinds of trades and professions.
Diller is seven years old this spring, and in seven years more will be a business centre of considerable extent. School facilities are good and in a short time a brick school house will be erected in place of the buildings now used for that purpose. Being located in the midst of a fine farming district it is sure to grow. Although a large portion on the business center of the town was burned in the early spring, it still thrives in as good, if not better condition than before as the same spots will be occupied by large bricks in a short time.
Located in Jefferson County, Fifty-five Miles From Lincoln
The village of Harbine is situated in Jefferson county, exactly midway between Beatrice and Fairbury. Near this place the country is very thickly settled by the wealthiest farmers of both Jefferson and Gage counties. Located as it is on the Rock Island, fifteen miles from Fairbury, and fifteen miles from Beatrice, it promises to make one of the best business points on the line--old towns excepted. Those desiring a good business location will do well to look this territory over for that purpose. Here is a good opening for general merchandise, hardware, drug store, doctors, stock buying, agricultural implements and general business.
Situated in Jefferson County--Seventy Miles From Lincoln--On the Chicago, Kansas City & Nebraska Railroad--Population One Hundred and Fifty.
Jansen is located between Beatrice and Fairbury, on the Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska railway, the western extension of the great Rock Island Route. As a glance at a map will show, the town is located just ninety miles west of the Missouri river and is therefore in the center of the best corn country in the United States. Every quarter section of land surrounding the town has one or two good farms on it, and we command the trade of a thickly settled country which is ready to support business. The farming community comprises the best element of American born citzens and a large share are Germans and Russian Mennonites, noted for their thriftiness and promptness.Good building stone is found in the vicinity in abundance. Good pure water is found at a moderate depth and Mr. Jansen has put down a well in the center of the town, with windmill and tank, which affords an abundant supply of water. The drainage of the town is excellent, a gentle slope to the south carrying off all surplus rainfall.
A first class elevator in operation doing a large business, a hardware store, a general merchandise store, a steam feed mill completed and running, a bank building erected, a hotel, a large pump and windmill warehouse, several residences built and occupied, two blacksmith shops, etc. Besides a number of shops, store buildings and dwellings are in course of erection. Distances to other towns are as follows:
Fairbury eight miles southwest, Beatrice twenty miles northeast. Diller eleven and one-half miles southeast. Swanton twelve miles north.
In brief, there is no new town in the west which offers better inducements for the investment of capital in any branch of business than Jansen. The adjacent country is so well developed that there will be no waiting for its settlement to make a good trading point, and the first business houses in operation will reap an abundant harvest from the very start, and there is a good opening for general merchandise, hardware, drug, furniture and grocery stores; in fact, for every branch of mercantile or manufacturing business as well as all kinds of labor.
Situated in Jefferson County--On the Burlington & Missouri Railroad--One Hundred and Three Miles From Lincoln--Population Five Hundred and Fifty.
Reynolds is a thriving village situated in the southwest part of Jefferson county, thirteen miles from Fairbury on the main line of the Burlington & Missouri road from Kansas City to Denver. It contains between five and six hundred people, being second in size and commercial importance to the county seat. Beautifully located on the north of Rose creek and surrounded by as fine an agricultural country as can be found in Nebraska. Just across the above stream to the south, inexhaustible quarries of fine building stone are to be found, while this stream furnishes an abundance of power to drive one of the finest small roller grist mills in the state the year around. While other towns have been under the fostering care of the railroad, Reynolds has by the united efforts of her intelligent and wide awake citizens succeeded in upholding herself and excelling her rivals in the volume of business transacted.There is a fine two story frame school building and maintains a graded school the year round. Two churches, Methodist and Baptist, each with good congregations and a minister located with us. The Masons, Odd Fellows and Good Templars each have flourishing lodges, and a lodge of A.O.U.W. is now being organized. There are three general stores, one grocery store, two meat markets, one hardware, two drugs, one hotel, two restaurants, one lumber yard, one furniture, two coal dealers, one bank, two livery stables, two blacksmith shops, one agricultural implement depot, one elevator, three grain and two stock buyers, one real estate and insurance office, two lawyers and no politicians. A new roller grist mill will be in operation by June 15, this year. The merchants do a business of two hundred thousand dollars a year. There was shipped from this station last year 157 car loads of grain, seventy-six car loads of stock, with upwards of 50,000 bushels of tow year old corn in cribs awaiting whipment. There was received during same time sixty-nine cars lumber, coal and machinery, and sixteen cars of miscellaneous freight, not counting the shipments of good to the merchants. This section embraces the Egypt of Nebraska as to corn raising and offers a fine opportunity to stock feeders. The Rock Island have located their Denver line through the village and work is expected to commence in twenty days. With the advent of the new road we confidently expect a large increase in our population and business, and the gentleman that first comes with a live newspaper will find fame and a pot full of ducats awaiting him.