H
ighway 2 through the Sandhills
is one of Nebraska's most scenic
drives. Deep in the Sandhills
lakes country, near the tiny town
of Antioch, stand desolate, oddly-
shaped concrete ruins visible from the
highway – as if Antioch had once been
a much larger city, or home to some
inexplicably large enterprise. And that's
pretty much what happened during
World War I when Antioch became a
potash boomtown.
Potash is a potassium compound
that was used as a fertilizer additive,
especially in the Cotton Belt. It was
also used to manufacture various
products such as glass and soap. Before
World War I, the United States imported
most of its potash from Germany.
Normally it sold for $8 to $10 a ton,
but during the war, the price soared to
more than $150 a ton. When alkaline
lakes in the Sandhills were discovered
to have potash, a new industry was soon
underway, resulting in the construction
of 10 huge plants that could each
produce 100 tons of potash per day.
The lakes were on state-owned
school land that was leased to a
private company, and rumors spread
of favoritism and dirty dealing. The
Nebraska state land commissioner and
the secretary of state responded with
a press release in which they stated
that they would tolerate no delays in
the project because "our country needs
the product for munitions." That was
false – potash wasn't used in munitions
– but the story was widely believed
and tended to shield the project from
criticism. ("So much for patriotism,"
complained the Alliance Semi-Weekly
Times after debunking the press
release.)
In true boomtown fashion, the
Sandhills potash industry rose and fell
quickly. Various companies struggled
for control of the industry, but the war's
end re-opened the import market and
the Nebraska plants were soon priced
out of business. Their ruins stand
as a testimony to the wide-ranging
and unpredictable effects of war and
international commerce.
Look for a historical marker along
Highway 2 just west of Antioch. There
you can pull off the road and observe
the ruins to the north of the highway.
From there, if you're heading west, it's
only 15 more miles to Alliance. ■
The ruins of the potash plant at the former town of Hoffland, Sheridan County,
Nebraska, July 9, 1955.
Antioch became a potash boomtown during World War I as seen by this July, 1917
image by Van Graven Alliance.
A Brief History
The Ruins Along
Highway 2
10 NEBRASKAland • MARCH 2015
By David Bristow,
Nebraska State Historical Society
NSHS
RG2541-6-31
NSHS
RG2541-1-7