History · Alma

Alma’s history is mostly unwritten

The public archives hold just one old photo of Alma. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1old photo or paper

2historic places

2famous people

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What stands out about Alma’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Alma’s homes were built before 1958.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alma’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alma’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewHistorical Forest Service Photos (19381…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story

How Alma came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alma.

Read it all →

Alma was founded in the spring of 1871 by a group of Union Pacific railroad laborers originally from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Harlan County was created by the Nebraska Legislature on June 3, 1871, and Alma was made the county seat on July 3, 1871. A dispute among the original settlers led to a dissolution of the town, but it was re-organized in 1874.

Alma's status as county seat was challenged by residents of Orleans, but an 1884 Nebraska Supreme Court decision affirmed Alma's status as seat of Harlan County. Alma officially incorporated in July 1881. The town was named after a daughter of one of the early settlers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alma, 1882 to 1938

Woven from the archive, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1882Born hereFannie Lucina Cook is born here
1884BuiltAlma City Auditorium and Sale Barn is built
20th century
1908Born hereRobert W. Porter Jr. is born here
1938In the archiveHistorical Forest Service Photos (19381109-FS-Nebraska-WGB-372106)

By decade

Alma, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item

Historical Forest Service Photos (19381109-FS-Nebraska-WGB-372106)

1938Historical Forest Service Photos (19381109-FS-Nebrask…

1940s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

Today4 recent

2014Alma, Nebraska city hall from S 1

2013Alma, Nebraska Main Street face W 1

2013Alma, Nebraska Main Street face NW 1

2005NEMap-doton-Alma

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewHistorical Forest Service Photos (19381109-FS-Nebraska-WGB-372106), 1938

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Alma’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

2 historic places in Alma

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2014

Alma City Auditorium and Sale Barn

in Nebraska

#62

by listings

Buildings

Alma City Auditorium and Sale BarnBuilt 1884

All 2 listings

Alma Carnegie LibraryBuilding · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Alma

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Robert W. Porter Jr.United States general · b. 1908

Fannie Lucina CookB.I. Hubbard's wife · b. 1882

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Weigh in

Has Alma changed for the better?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Start a conversation

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia and Wikidata for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.