WILBER, SALINE COUNTY
The earliest settler here about was Tobias Castor, who arrived in
1862. He established a post office at "Blue Island," a mile
or so to the south. The town of Wilber was platted in 1873 on land
donated by Charles Dana Wilber, a geologist and land speculator. Early
merchants were W. H. Mann and Charles Harvey who built a dam and a
mill on Big Blue River; W. C. Henry, who built an elevator; and C.D.
Wilber, owner of Wilber House. By 1875 the population of this precinct
was 800.
Many Bohemian immigrants
settled in this area. About 90 percent of the town's 1,250 inhabitants
were of Czech descent in 1900. With them came a love for music, drama,
gymnastics, education, patriotism, well-tended lawns and gardens, and
traditional Czech foods. From early on, there were two opera houses,
many fraternal organizations, and annual summer carnivals to celebrate
the harvest.
Wilber became the county
seat when the courthouse records were moved from Pleasant Hill
following an 1877 election. A newspaper, "The Opposition,"
moved from DeWitt that year. Various other newspapers, including those
published in the Czech language, appeared for a short time, but the
dominant publication since 1887 has been "The Wilber
Republican."
The town's economy has
been agriculturally based. In addition to grain elevators, flour
mills, a brewery, a sawmill, a stockyard, and various meat markets,
there was also a hatchery in the 1930-40s. The Farmers Elevator was
enlarged to store 1,350,000 bushels of grain, and handles over 2
million bushels a year. In the 1950s a window factory and a wiener
plant were established. In 1975 a hog processing plant was built
between Crete and Wilber.
Prior to 1900 the Saline
County Fair was held south of town. About 1910 a park, located along
the Blue Rive near the dam, was the center of social activity
including dances, Sokol tournaments, and recreation. For a short time,
a nine-hole golf course was maintained on the outskirts of town. A gun
club, organized in the 1880s, continues to the present time. Since
1930 the Sokol Hall has served as a community center for dances,
meetings, alumni banquets, and other gatherings.
Wilber has been served
by at least one doctor and dentist since its beginning. In addition to
good medical care, a nursing home and citizens housing project were
completed in the 1960s. The community also places a high priority on
education, providing new buildings in 1879, 1903, 1931 and 1970. In
1966 the district merged with several rural schools and was renamed
Wilber-Clatonia Public Schools.
Many residents of Wilber
have become prominent in their chosen fields: -- Dr. Olga Sadilek
Stastny, the first Czech woman physician in Nebraska, was elected to
the Nebraska Women's Hall of Fame in 1975.
August Molzer, 1897 Wilber High graduate, violinist, studied in Europe
with Anton Dvorak and others, served in the UN Music Departments and
at Wesleyan.
John Grant Tobias, who lived in Wilber from 1924-39, an artist, who
donated many of his scenes of Saline County to NSHS.
Frank Sadilek, a prominent politician from 1883-1918, served as county
clerk and treasurer, state senator, and wrote "My
Reminiscences."
Bernard Klasek served more than 50 years with the Wilber Public
Schools and as county superintendent, retiring in 1986.
Irma Ourecky, promoter of many Czech events, was given the Henry Fonda
Award in 1990 by the Nebraska Tourism Foundation, for her work in
Wilber and across the state.
In 1962 the Nebraska
Czechs of Wilber sponsored a Czech Festival. It became an annual event
held the first weekend in August ever since, with as many as 20,000 in
attendance. In 1963 Wilber was proclaimed "Czech Capital of
Nebraska" by Gov. Frank Morrison. Shortly thereafter, the Wilber
Czech Museum and the Dvoracek Memorial Library were established
through donations by Milo Stastny and Lillian Dvoracek Stastny. In
1987 U.S. Senators Zorinsky and Exon sponsored a bill proclaiming the
last week of July as National Czech American Heritage Week, and the
town of Wilber as the "Czech Capital of the U.S.A."
At the present time,
there are nearly 1,600 residents in Wilber. The principal assess
routes are highways 41 and 103. An airport one mile west can
accommodate small, propeller-driven aircraft, and there is a branch
line of the Burlington Northern for daily freight service. The major
tourist attractions are the annual Czech Festival, the Wilber Czech
museum, the Hotel Wilber, and the scenic valleys of the Big Blue River
and Turkey Creek.
By E. A. Kral, 324
West 2nd St. Wilber, NE 68465. Edited by Jane Graff, Seward NE.
Transcribed for the Saline county web site by Pauli Mullin.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL:
History of the State of Nebraska, Vol.2 pp. 1349-1354; Czechs and
Nebraska, Kucera, Vladimir, and Novacek, 1967; "The
Opposition" 1874-87; A Poetic History of Wilber, Ourecky and
Kral, 1985; A History of Czechs in Nebraska CHSN, 1929; My
Reminiscences Sadilek, trans. Stepanek, 1914; "The Wilber
Republican," 1887-1987.
