August-September 2026 • Nebraskaland 43
Learn more at the NSHS's website at history.nebraska.gov
earth-removal project lowered the steep hills of downtown
Omaha. The remaining land was cut away when the current
courthouse was built in 1912. Both courthouses share a
grim distinction: Each saw mob lynchings of Black men
accused of rape — in 1891 and 1919.
The Saline County Courthouse in Wilber saw its own
version of civil unrest on March 13, 1933 — fortunately
without fatalities. During the Great Depression, protestors
associated with the "Farm Holiday" movement disrupted
farm foreclosure auctions by intimidating anyone from
making more than a token bid. They called it a "penny
auction." After the property was sold for a few dollars, the
buyers would return everything to the owner.
When such a penny auction was to be held near Wilber, a
crowd of farmers, including women and children, entered
the courthouse and held the sheriff in his office to prevent
him from stopping the planned disruption of the sale.
Barricading themselves in the office, the protestors fought
with deputies until they were dispersed by tear gas. The
Lincoln Star told of "men and women alike jumping out
of windows or doors." The leaders were later arrested
and fined.
Across Nebraska, women served on juries for many years
before Frontier County empaneled its first female jurors
in 1966. Why so late? The problem was indoor plumbing,
which the tiny courthouse lacked. Many years earlier, a
local judge had issued a rule prohibiting female jurors until
modern restroom facilities could be provided. (As if the
county's mostly farm-and-ranch women were too delicate
to use an outhouse!) The improvement was finally made
in 1962, but several more years passed before a local case
came to trial.
And finally, in Minden, every year the Kearney County
Courthouse is strung with 12,000 Christmas lights and
h o s t s a n o u td o o r p a ge a n t p e r fo r m e d by m o re t h a n a
hundred local volunteers. The light display began in 1915
and the pageant in 1946 — living traditions now older than
many of the state's current courthouses.
N
Frontier County Courthouse in
Stockville. An addition provides modern
restrooms. NSHS RG3369-5-1
Kearney County Courthouse in Minden, decked out for the
holidays, undated postcard. NSHSRG2100-3-9
