Wahoo

Wahoo NE, 5th Street with paved streets 1920

Before the arrival of settlers, a Pawnee Indian village with 50 or more lodges in a four-block area was located in what is now considered the Southeast part of Wahoo.

In 1869, land speculators John, James and William Lee, H. Dorsey, E.H. Berna, J.J. Hawthorne and George Miner purchased this “likely spot” in the hope of developing a town.

The village’s founders originally called it “Leesville” but soon renamed it “Wauhoo.” The word is thought to come from a bush that grew along nearby creeks and was used by the Otoe tribe for medicinal purposes. The “u” was dropped from the spelling—probably by postal authorities when they approved an office on July 15, 1869.

It is the only town in the USA by that name.

The builders of this new town of “Wahoo,” however, had competition for their development. Another settlement located just two miles north of Wahoo, first called “Swedeburg,” and later named “Eldred,” was also vying for a piece of the action. In an attempt to lure shop owners away from Eldred, Wahoo’s proprietors offered them choice lots, feeling that if they could get businesses to relocate to Wahoo, their residents would follow.

Early in the 1870s, there was a movement to relocate the county seat, which at that time was in “Ashland,” in the far southeast corner of the county. Wahoo, near the center of the county, needed that designation to assure its survival. As the battle raged back and forth, Wahoo’s proprietors offered to give the county “half the city’s lots” if the voters approved the move to Wahoo. The men also erected a big wooden building for use as a courthouse to support their bid. On October 14, 1873, the election was held and the outcome was: Wahoo with 617 votes; Eldred, 549; Alvin (Mead), 249; and Ashland, 214. Not waiting for confirmation on the narrow margin of victory, the county records were mysteriously spirited out of Ashland in the middle of the night and taken to the new courthouse. Wahoo survived, and rival Eldred faded away.

By 1876, Wahoo had gained another advantage. The railroad arrived. Eventually, three railroads found Wahoo’s location ideal for their needs, dissecting the county like a giant pie. The Union Pacific branch line from Valley to Lincoln was first. By 1886, the Chicago & North Western established a Fremont to Lincoln line through Wahoo, and the next year, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy built a branch line connecting Schuyler and Ashland. The Union Pacific is currently the only railroad operating through Wahoo.

Railroads, primarily financed by land grants, sent recruiters to Europe in an attempt to persuade people to buy its property and move to the newly opened place called Nebraska. Its “generous terms” included an initial cost of around $5 an acre and a ten-year payment period. As a result, a large number of Czech, Swede, and German immigrants came to the area.

Some of the first wave of Czech immigrants into Wahoo were our ancestors and relatives, Zimola, Simondynes and Dolezal.

Interest in beginning a Catholic parish in Wahoo can be traced back to 1877, when a local group of Catholics began planning to build a church named after the patron of their former country, Bohemia.

Construction on the present neo-gothic church, St. Wenceslaus, began in June 1920 and was consecrated in September 1923. by Bishop James Duffy of Grand Island, as the Diocese of Lincoln was without a bishop then. Note the cornerstone inscription, which is written in Czech and English.

The committee’s treasurer who raised funds for the church from the Catholics nearby was František Vybíral, our 2nd-great-grandfather.

Since the parish was much more of a Czech community consecrated for a Czech saint, unlike St. Joseph in Colon, our ancestors seemed to have adopted it going forward. All of their farms around Colon were eventually sold and they moved closer to Wahoo.

The interior of the church has undergone several renovations throughout its 85-year history, most notably in the 1970s, when the old altars were removed.

However, in 2019, the church was restored to its original designs and enhanced with ceiling frescos. Many call such projects “Un-Wreckovation.”