Few buildings from early Beatrice remain

Laureen Riedesel, retired Beatrice Public Library Director, said the oldest building in Beatrice is the backside of the Edward D. Jones building. It dates back to the 1870s.

“In 1870 there was a stagecoach hotel built here called the Emory House," she said. "In 1872 they built onto it and again in 1874. But you can see 1870s Gage County limestone still today at the back of the building.”

She noted that the first 13 years of buildings in Beatrice were built of wood.

“Most of them were destroyed by fire or they were replaced," she said. "The city in the 1870s passed a requirement that all the buildings be stone or brick because of fire. Fire was such a concern during that time.”

“You can see from the very beginning that Beatrice founders had hopes and expectations that this would be a substantial town.”

Riedesel said the oldest houses in the community are likely built into other houses. She used the example of a cabin that was rescued by Wayne Lineweber.

“The cabin had been built into a larger house," she said. "They just built around it and you no longer saw the logs.

“Again Beatrice did not want a log cabin community. One of their first concerns was to have a planing mill. They wanted a sophisticated modern town.”

Cassandra Dean, Executive Director of the Gage County Historical Society and Museum, said the 1874 birds-eye view of Beatrice did not have a single log cabin.

Riedesel noted that people in the community will often say that they wonder if that is not the case in their home because some of the walls are so thick.

Based upon research that Riedesel has done, she believes the oldest church building still standing in Beatrice to be at 14th and Grant streets which is the Bible Baptist Church. It was originally a German Brethren congregation.

“The first church building built in Beatrice had ties to the Methodist church, but they allowed any group to use it while they formed their church," she said. "The second building was at the corner of Fourth and Elk. It’s the corner of the school now. It was new enough that it was just incorporated into the high school building.”

Dean said the Historical Society is researching but believes the First Christian Church is 100 years old.

“That church has an interesting history," Riedesel said. "The denomination was founded by a man named Alexander Campbell and some of the founders of the church in Beatrice knew Campbell. It was a prominent church in Beatrice.”

Riedesel said some of the oldest and largest churches in the community were supported by the Kilpatrick brothers, some of Beatrice’s earliest supporters.

“Some people say the brothers didn’t get along because they all went to different churches, but that was not the case,” she said. “They attended and supported whatever church their wife came from when they married.

“The stories of Beatrice are so incredible. I just try to remember all of them.”