A name you remember. A building you pass. A story you want to know. Explore our growing collection of Hooper history.
61 published stories · 20 tour stops · 748 source references · Growing with every discovery
Matching passages and citation notes from our published collection.
Its beginnings were far smaller than the fairgrounds remembered in later photographs. A. E. Tunberg’s “Brief History of the Dodge County Fair,” preserved in Hooper’s centennial book, describes the first show on a mostly vacant block with one large barn. Organizers used the adjoining streets, too. Admission was free. [Centennial History, p. 101]
In “A business tied to community life”
Smida’s work extended beyond the workshop. The centennial history records him as president of the Hooper Commercial Club in 1945 and describes his advocacy for a city park on the former Dodge County Fair grounds. It later connects his wife, Julia, with the Lions Club’s roadside-park effort. The garage was part of a wider network of businesses and residents investing in the town.
In “Classrooms, music and community support in the 1950s”
Hooper High had 146 pupils in September 1954, including ninety-seven tuition students. The band had about fifty-three members under John Parde, preparing for football games, the county fair and Ak-Sar-Ben. Later that month forty-nine musicians traveled by chartered bus to Omaha, wearing scarlet uniforms with white trim.
In “Two neighbors on different railroads”
A 1911 account gives an especially useful local explanation. The Fremont Tribune recalled that Winslow had initially looked promising as a shipping point, while its prospects as a trading town were less certain and some businesspeople hesitated. By 1911, the paper identified its principal trading territory to the north and east, extending into Washington County. Winslow’s customers therefore came from a farming area beyond the short stretch of road separating it from Hooper.
In “A former electrical store becomes a bowling alley”
There is also a small date discrepancy worth keeping visible. The bowling account gives September 23, while the book’s events chronology connects the opening of the new alleys with the Fall Festival and School Fair on September 26, 1940. Those may describe different parts of the opening festivities, but the sources do not explain the difference.
Cited in When Hooper Hosted the Dodge County Fair
Hooper Mrs. Jaycees / Hooper Centennial-Bicentennial Committee, May 1976, printed pp. 101, 104–105. Read from the supplied scans.
Cited in When Hooper Hosted the Dodge County Fair
Nebraska fair calendar. Lists Hooper’s Dodge County Fair for September 19–22, J. H. Heine, secretary; separately lists Scribner’s Dodge County Fair for September 13–15. Advertised dates, not confirmation that either event proceeded exactly as scheduled. Original page visually checked; search-engine OCR incorrectly transcribes the Hooper secretary.
Cited in When Hooper Hosted the Dodge County Fair
Advertisement for an April 22 dance at Hooper’s Stock Show Dance Pavilion: DeFord’s Jazz Phiends of Lincoln; tickets $1 plus war tax. Advance advertisement, not confirmation of the performance.
Cited in When Hooper Hosted the Dodge County Fair
“Fair Franchise Sold to Scribner.” Original page read through Newspapers.com; also reproduced in Centennial History, p. 105.
