Welcome to Bingham, Nebraska, - population 20+/- located 20 miles west of Hyannis on Highway #2. Bingham boasts a one-room school house, a post office and a church.
In the summer of 1888 the Burlington Railroad was put through from Hyannis to Alliance, and as the rails were laid, the workers camped in dugouts along a Bingham hill, One family Clarence Woods, stayed on.
By 1900 there was a boxcar depot and a sod house for the section foreman, Tipton Vanest. Homesteaders began settling the area. Mrs. Woods taught in the first school house. The Post Office was in a dugout east of town and then moved to a sod house in 1901,
From 1905-1910 a grocery store, a hotel; two potato cellars were built, and a depot was moved by rail from Ashby. in April, 1900 men of the area met to form the Bingham Congregational Church with 15 members, The present church building was built in 1909, with remodeling done from time to time,
A well publicized shoot-out occurred in 1914. Two men, George Rowding and Ralph Dayley were at a dance south of Bingham, and Dayley’s sister complained about George to her brother. Rough words were exchanged, The guests prevented a fight that night, but the next day Dayley was in Bingham to put his father on the train, and Rowding challenged him. As Dayley was getting into his wagon, Rowding shot at his wagon. They both began shooting with Rowding dying almost immediately, and Dayley being take to the Alliance hospital by train. Dayley was not prosecuted,
By the 1920's there were more than 200 people living in Bingham. A new 2-story brick school was built, A bank, barber shop, "greasy spoon" diner, hotel with restaurant and tavern, town electrical plant, post office, two grocery stores, lumber yard, hardware store, filling station, pool hall, livery stable and harness shop served the village and the surrounding ranch population. The railroad ran two passenger trains each way, each day, and ranchers received mail and sent their cream, game birds and cattle on the trains to the Omaha market,
By the 30’s the paved highway went past Bingham. 1942 brought WW 2 and Bingham contributed a tremendous number of men to the armed forces. With the end of the War people were able to get cars and gradually cattle were shipped more by truck that by rail. With transportation easier, the village gradually declined, ranches increased in size and mechanization, stores closed, and passenger trains became a part of Bingham’s past, also.
SITES TO VISIT IN BINGHAM!
