Ghost Towns: Lemoyne, Nebraska

Ghost Towns is a relatively new category for the Rural Resurrection website. Our first posting in this category was on Mystic, South Dakota. There’s an old saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is important to learn from these ghost towns to help us avoid our communities becoming one as well. However, some of the stories in this category are just interesting tales to read.

To consider Lemoyne, Nebraska a ghost town is somewhat of a fallacy. The Lemoyne still exists as an unincorporated community, just not where it originally sat. The original foundations of the original buildings of this community lie under approximately 50 feet of water in what is now Lake McConaughy.

Birth and Growth of Lemoyne

In the mid-1880s Lemoyne Jacobs settled along the North Platte River in western Nebraska. He had visions of developing a new community there and knew in those days that goal required rail service. He pushed hard for the Union Pacific to run a rail line to the area. In 1909 the UP completed a branch line through the North Platte Valley. This made Lemoyne Jacobs’ dream a possibility and in 1911, the town of Lemoyne was surveyed and named in honor of Jacobs.

Photo by Ken Dewey from Nebraska Weather Photos

With the railroad fueling activity, the community grew through the early 1900s. The railroad built a small stockyard. Others built a lumberyard, a livery stable, a barbershop and a bank. By 1915 a bridge was constructed across the river to connect the community to Ogallala along the UP main line. Local businessmen also invested in the community, building a hotel in 1918. By the mid-1920s the population had grown to 200 residents.

Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy

The weather patterns in western Nebraska have never been remotely consistent. Spring downpours would often be followed by weeks drought. This often made conditions for farmers and ranchers tough in that part of the state.

Holdrege grain merchant Charles McConaughy dreamed of using the spring flooding of the Platte River to assist irrigation of the farm fields in the area. McConaughy and others formed the Tri-County Supplemental Water Association in 1913. In recognition of his efforts, McConaughy was named president. Over the next two decades to organization worked diligently to make the dam a reality. Unfortunately, McConaughy died in 1929 and would never see the fruit of his labor.

Then the Great Depression hit along with some severe droughts. Oddly enough, the Great Depression was possibly what McConaughy’s dream needed. The federal government bought about several new funding sources through the New Deal including those through the newly created Public Works Administration (PWA). Roosevelt’s PWA awarded 20 million dollars to the creation of the dam.

Photo by Ken Dewey from Nebraska Weather Photos

As planned, the project would consist of a dam stretching three miles in length and a resulting reservoir that would measure 22 miles long. The effort to create such a monstrosity would result in Nebraska’s largest construction project. The new reservoir was aptly named Lake McConaughy while the dam would be called Kingsley.

Lemoyne in the Crosshairs

Unfortunately, Lemoyne was originally settled along the banks of the North Platte River. This put it squarely in the crosshairs of the development of the massive reservoir. Lemoyne had to be moved as rising waters of the reservoir was going to flood every building in town.

In 1937 the Tri-County Association began making plans to relocate the town and its residents to higher ground to the north. A number of the buildings were moved off of their foundations to new locations less than a mile away.

This new gathering of buildings was established as “New Lemoyne”. However, the “New” never caught on and people continued to call the relocated town “Lemoyne”. A number of disheartened residents didn’t bother moving to this new location. They looked elsewhere to set up residence, many of them to the rapidly growing community Ogallala nearby.

By 1941 what remained of Lemoyne’s original site was submerged under 50 feet of water.

What Remains

Lemoyne has regressed since the relocation. It is now an unincorporated community of 82 residents. The Burlington Northern Railroad still goes through town. But it certainly doesn’t stop. The long coal trains pass back and forth throughout the day without even slowing much.

Many of the businesses are gone, but those who remain have embraced the lake and the business opportunities that it offers. Mini-storage units line the highway to serve frequent visitors that want to leave their boats and recreational vehicles nearby. Admiral’s Cove Resort provides a variety of overnight stay options, a general store and a popular restaurant with occasional entertainment during the summer.

Photo by Ken Dewey from Nebraska Weather Photos

A severe drought in 2004 brought the level of the reservoir down to 1/5th of its capacity. For a limited time the drought uncovered the remains of this ghost town. Mainly only building foundations and scant artifacts remained, but it was an interesting look into the past. This video shows some of the revealed foundations.

The re-emergence is more thoroughly documented by Ken Dewey’s pictures on the Nebraska Weather Photos site.

Analysis

So is there something to learn from this “ghost town”? Hard to say. A number of small towns have been wiped off the map by mother nature over the years. But in this instance, it wasn’t truly mother nature’s waters that “ended” this community. The man-made dam project was the impetus for Lemoyne’s move and gradual decay.

It is tough to move an entire town and get it to retain that sense of community that keeps people around for the long run. You can build a town, but you can’t force it to be a “community”. There has to be full buy-in from the residents to make it work.

Could better planning have “saved” Lemoyne from the demise that took place as a result of the move? Doubtful. A number of the other communities in that area started to fade away as the railroad started to shut down their stops along the line. Like so many other communities, the emergence of the automobile and over-the-road trucking signified their downturn.

Sure, sufficient planning could’ve helped Lemoyne evolve into more of a tourist hub for the great boating, camping, and fishing that Lake McConaughy offers. But the value of planning wasn’t as prevalent in the 1930s as it is now. Even back then it would’ve taken a bold plan with an interest and an effort from a majority of the community to keep away from a downward trend to its growth curve.

But I’m sure that a number of residents Lemoyne are just fine with this. Those who remain have a low cost of living and the wide range of amenities that Lake McConaughy provides virtually on their front doorstep.

You may know of a ghost town with an interesting history. One that may be a helpful example to other communities, don’t keep it to yourself! Let us know through our contact form.