Neligh, NE, – The Nebraska State Historical Society and Neligh Mill State Historical Site are hosting an Operation Lifesaver Awareness event at Neligh Mill the end of this month to coincide with Train Safety Week.
On Sept. 27 from noon to 4 p.m., Neligh Mill visitors can check out Operation Lifesaver’s display trailer and educational materials. Operation Lifesaver is a nonprofit organization and nationally recognized leader of rail safety education. Established in 1972, Operation Lifesaver stands committed to preventing collisions, injuries and fatalities on and around railroad tracks and highway-rail grade crossings around the country.
The event also draws attention to the City of Neligh’s efforts to preserve the vintage boxcar at Neligh Mill. The boxcar is important to the story of the mill because it helps inform school students and visitors about how flour was shipped on rail from the mill to various locations and included military forts and Indian Reservations. At that time, the Neligh Mill could produce up to a boxcar full of flour daily.
“The City of Neligh has played a substantial role in laying the concrete foundation, gravel around the Mill, and continued work on the boxcar to further telling the important story of this local historical site,” said Neligh Mill Site Manager, Don “Harv” Ofe, who has been at the site for more than 40 years.
The Nebraska State Historical Society collects, preserves, studies and shares the state’s history for all Nebraskans. NSHS was founded in 1878 by citizens who recognized Nebraska was going through great changes and sought to record the stories of both indigenous and immigrant peoples. It was designated a state institution in 1883 and became a state agency in 1994. NSHS has historical sites around the state including Chimney Rock Ethel S. and Christopher J. Abbott Visitor Center and Museum, Fort Robinson State Historical Site in the northwest Panhandle, Neligh Mill State Historical Site in Neligh, the John G. Neihardt Center in Bancroft, Sen. George Norris House in McCook, Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha, Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln, and more than 600 historical markers around the state.
