Hunting for Rural Treasure in Nebraska

A mix of beautiful and broken scenes

I remember a few years back I had lunch with another photographer who HATED taking photos in Nebraska.

He was born and raised here, but said, “There’s nothing to take photos of here. I’ve looked everywhere.”

The more I head out into the Nebraska countryside, often to the same places, the more I disagree with him.

There’s something truly special about many of these places, and I recently went on a single-day trip through a few small communities.

I want to take you along for the ride.

EXETER

The first stop: an old school in Exeter, Nebraska.

Exeter has a population over 500, and is one of a string of towns named by the Burlington railroad in alphabetical order (along with Crete, Dorchester, Fairmont, Grafton, Harvard, Inland, Juniata and Kenesaw).

I took a few photos of the old high school while here. (Photographers: all the photos here were mostly shot with my iPhone using the mood.camera app, but I’ve got a few Fujifilm GFX shots mixed in here too, because why not).

The most famous person out of Exeter graduated here: Jeff Zeleny, who went on to win a Pulitzer Prize while reporting for the Chicago Tribune.

Before I left, I grabbed one quick shot of the business district:

GRAFTON

Not far from Exeter is Grafton, Nebraska, with a population of around 100:

I only shot a few photos of the high school, which is quite a large school for a place that was never very big. It’s now on the National Register for Historic Places.

This 1914 structure replaced an older schoolhouse, and the robust education offered here was meant to recruit students from the surrounding area.

A peek inside through the window:

I’ve seen a lot of these old high schools, and this school is REALLY big for how small Grafton is.

HEARTWELL

The town of Heartwell, Nebraska (population of around 80) is one I’ve never been to before, and it was a wonderful find:

Named after a Nebraska state senator, James B. Heartwell, this town doesn’t have much of a “business” district any longer.

The party’s pretty much over in Heartwell.

I talked to a town local, who said most of the buildings were burned down or damaged in fires over the years. He was in the process of fixing up this old schoolhouse/church into his residence.

I love small-town humor:

The Catholic church is still active.

Heartwell was also photographed back in the day by legendary photographer Arthur Rothstein:

Rothstein is famous for his work as a depression-era documentary photographer, and the man behind this iconic “Fleeing a Dust Storm” photograph taken in Oklahoma:

Oh my goodness is this a fantastic photograph.

It’s kind of cool to see a historic photographer walking the same steps I took!

MASON CITY

Last stop on today’s small-town express is a fantastic place called Mason City, Nebraska.

About 150 people live here, and it’s got some incredible small-town charm.

There’s some cool history here. In the early 1900’s, the Harvest Homecoming Celebration drew crowds nearly 20,000 strong, and politicians of the time made it a must-stop campaign event.

Mason City also boasts having one of the oldest community bands in Nebraska that seems to be active to this day.

The town is an interesting mix of beautiful and broken.

Pure nightmare fuel:

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