When I returned to North Loup, Nebraska this summer to bury my mother, I realized I hadn’t been back to that beautiful village for 40 years! It seemed impossible that I’d been away from the braided prairie for two generations! I discovered the last time I visited North Loup was in 1984 when I published a photo memory. Today, 14,600 days later, I present a new photo memory of the North Loup that raised me, and that lifted all the hopes of my curious childhood in far away in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Popcorn is big in North Loup. There’s a popcorn factory that employs many of the residents and the yearly, century old, Popcorn Days celebration is still crowning Popcorn Queens!
The residue of the popped delight is a year-round mark of pride, and belonging, in the small village of 221 people. 40 years ago, 400 people lived in North Loup. Everything decays. Time. People. Populations. Popcorn!
One big change for me to see was seeing the new water tower.
The old tower looked like a silver, shining coffee pot percolating in the sun — this newfangled version looks like a turkey baster!
North Loup doesn’t really have addresses.
You just sort of point a person to a destination in town, or you gradually walk them through a — “turn right, then left, carry on straight a bit, there” — pathway pocked with recognizable landmarks.
There are, however, some homemade street signs for those who want navigable names along with directions.
Some of the places I remember from 40 years ago are still standing — they may no longer be there — but they are still standing; like this gas station.
My grandfather’s house is now unrecognizable. All the old wood slat character has been stripped away by siding.
It’s been remade from the outside in, and a ramp was added to what used to be the front porch.
My grandfather’s old pharmacy is now an insurance company.
No pharmacy in North Loup now.
Also, now long gone in North Loup are the three bars, the Jack and Jill grocery store, Vera’s clothing store and the North Loup Cafe. All disappeared. All lost. All not replaced. I guess if you want to eat, drink, and shop you head on up Highway 11 to Ord, 11 miles away.
Maybe the town motto might just be, “North Loup: We won’t feed you, heal you, liquor you up, or clothe you — but you can get whole life insurance coverage day or night!”
The all-volunteer fire department is the same as it ever was.
Your neighbors are your rescuers; you rescue your neighbors.
Here’s the North Loup library. I think there used to be a skating rink inside.
The building looks the same as it ever was four decades ago.
This is the building where, after my grandfather died, we spent $400 to buy four used tires for his 1966 Plymouth Fury II (with Positraction)!
His old car became my first car in 1980. I street named the Plymouth, “The Porsche.”
The “North Loup Valley Bank” bank looks the same — but now bears a new name and ownership.
The beautiful old brick Post Office is now an art gallery, and so now there’s a whole new, standalone, Post Office building right next to a new war memorial for the local missing and the dead.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers are almost as popular as Popcorn in North Loup!
Sure, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a “football school” but the Loup Valley is still prime scarlet and cream country!
Fun family members Russ and Kathy are even on the Go Big Red team with their ephemeral “Big Red Donuts” food truck that satiates palates all over Valley County!
I believe the Donut Truck began life as some sort of paramedic rescue truck. Still is, I guess. “Rescued by a Glazed Bear Claw with Sprinkles!”
While North Loup loves their Huskers — they just plain love their Popcorn more. Popcorn butters the bills. Popcorn kernels the family. Popcorn eats history.
Popcorn pops the future!
This wraps up our 2024 tour of North Loup, Nebraska. So many things have changed, and so many things that have died have not been replaced. The rise of a cross-county Co-Op brings great hope for the economic and social future expansion of North Loup.
For me, North Loup, Nebraska will always remain the beloved home I never had, and the place I never wanted to leave. Let’s hope it won’t be another 40 years before I return!
https://bolesblogs.com/2024/08/09/return-to-the-braided-prairie-a-2024-north-loup-photo-memory/
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