December 2020 • Nebraskaland 41
earney has long promoted itself as the "Midway City"
located halfway between the coasts, exactly 1,733 miles
from both Boston and San Francisco. The number 1733
shows up in various places. There w as the 1733 Ranch
with what was said to be the world's largest barn. Local signs
and maps touted the number, and not many years ago, a
Kearney store off ered 17.33 percent off during a sale. Back in
the days of the Lincoln Highway (present day U.S. 30), a road
sign boasted that Kearney was "1733 miles to Frisco, 1733
miles to Boston."
University of Nebraska-Kearney geography professor John
Bauer became fascinated with the number. It didn't seem to
add up. On a U.S. map, Kearney looks closer to San Francisco
than to Boston. Bauer noted the great circle distances as
1,263 miles between San Francisco and Kearney, and 1,486
between Kearney and Boston. Was 1,733 simply a made-up
promotional claim by local boosters?
Digging deeper, he found that some people claimed that the
1,733 distance was based on the old Lincoln Highway. Bauer
checked a 1915 Lincoln Highway guidebook. It measured
1,752 miles from San Francisco and 1,632 miles from New
York City, where the highway ended. The Lincoln Highway
didn't even go to Boston.
So it was starting to look like 1733 was a made-up number,
or at best a wild guess by Kearney boosters. This is the town,
after all, that once campaigned to replace Washington, D.C.,
as the U.S. capital. What wouldn't Kearney say to puff itself
up?
Bauer was curious as to when this idea originated and how
it fi t with the city's self-promotion as the "Midway City." That
led him to sources much older than the Lincoln Highway.
Turns out the boosters were right. Bauer found the answer
by looking at early railroad maps and timetables. The 1,733
fi gure matches an old railroad route, and has been promoted
by the city since at least 1890.
Bauer's article, "1,733 Miles from Where? Kearney,
Nebraska's 1733 Identity" appeared in the Summer 2015 issue
of Nebraska History Magazine.
N
Visit History Nebraska's website at history.nebraska.gov.
K
1,733 Miles from Somewhere
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
Shown in about 1890, Kearney's Midway Hotel (1808 Central
Ave.) advertised itself as being 1,733 miles from both San
Francisco and Boston. History Nebraska RG2178-18
Originally known as the Watson Ranch, the 1733 Ranch
had a 500-foot-long dairy barn that was a Lincoln Highway
landmark. History Nebraska RG2608-0-2951
The 1733 Ranch's central location was a big part of its
marketing. History Nebraska RG3316-0-61
