Warring Memorial Church. This is pretty much the way it looks today. At one time, the main entry was from the east. Here, it has been moved to the south side, where it remains today.

The first school in Whitney was on the ground floor of the Woods Hotel in 1886, according to Mabel Kendrick in her book "Still Alive and Well -- Whitney, Nebraska." It was on the northeast corner of Missouri and Division Streets, where Connell Oil Company was located in later years. Then, after a short period of classes in the Methodist Church, a one-room school house was built near the site of the present school. It was used for some 35 years -- until 1922 -- when a new stucco two and one-half story school house was built for both grade and high school pupils. That structure, shown here in the 1950s, also had a small gymnasium in the basement. The building is still standing but has been vacant for many years.

Lois Douthit sent this undated photograph of her mother, Mabel L. (Burkitt) Kendrick. Mabel, of course, was well known throughout Whitney and the region. She was recognized as a most knowledgeable historian, and she authored "Still Alive and Well -- Whitney, Nebraska," which is a wonderful collection of community and church history.

Downtown Whitney in the 1920s. Perhaps someone can identify a few of these gents, who appear to be having a fine time relaxing in front of what I believe was a cafe next to the Farmers and Drovers State Bank. Most other pictures of the bank building show a rounded decal saying "Farmers and Drovers State Bank." This one appears to be perfectly horizontal. Perhaps it was changed with a broken window -- or the logo simply changed. In any event, we thank Sam Couch for sending us this photo.

This is the old Whitney School building as it looked about 1921. The structure was located in the northwest part of the village -- not far from the site of the present Whitney School. Sam Couch included this photograph in a presentation he put together some years ago when he taught at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.

This photo submitted by Sam Couch says "Main Street in the 1920s." It has a more panoramic view than the cropped version elsewhere in this gallery. We've since heard from Kris Mader, who lives in the "Cartwright building," which is the two-story white house in the middle of this photograph. It was the diamond-shaped upstairs window that made the building readily identifiable. With this bit of information, it is clear that the photo was taken looking north-northwest, with the restaurant and old bank buildings at the far right of the picture. That would be on the west side of Missouri Street, which runs left-to-right in this photograph. Thanks to Kris Mader for the tip!

STORIES BEHIND THE STONES

Each marker in the Whitney Cemetery tells a story. How unfortunate that we know so few of those stories! Nonetheless, it's a delight to capture bits and pieces of Whitney's early years -- and the people who called it home.

Our thanks to Toby Kendrick who passed along some photographs and a fascinating story about his great-great-grandfather, O.W. Kendrick, who is buried in the Whitney Cemetery.

Born in New York in 1861, O.W. married Elizabeth Decker, and together they raised three sons and one daughter. By the 1920s, Mr. Kendrick had outlived both Elizabeth and a second wife. He, like his son Frank Kendrick, was living in Whitney, Nebraska.

ANOTHER VETERAN PASSES AWAY

That was the headline of an undated news article in the spring of 1924 that told of how Mr. O.W. Kendrick had cut his finger with a pen knife. While the finger appeared to heal just fine, he later developed blood poisoning and died on Saturday, March 22, 1924 at the home of his son, Frank Kendrick.

A Civil War veteran who had "marched to the sea" with the Illinois Infantry as a part of General Sherman's sweep across the South, Mr. Kendrick died on his 85th birthday.

In addition to his son Frank, Mr. Kendrick was survived by another son, Edward Kendrick of Johnson, Kansas; a brother, Milton Kendrick of New York, and a sister, Mrs. Hattie Jackson of California.

Local residents have become almost oblivious to one of the “landmarks” of old downtown Whitney. It’s the safe of the Farmers & Drovers Bank that burned down in 1927. Now something of a one-stop recycling center (buy your pop and deposit the empty can in the recycle can!) it’s been a subject of some interest for years. We believe the safe was opened at least once over the years -- but what were its contents? Help us solve the mystery. E-mail us and help us share that information! This photo was taken in November 2007.

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