Nebraska County Countdown: #32 Thayer County

Established in 1856, Thayer County was named after John M. Thayer who is a singer/songwriter known for songs like Your Body Is A Wonderland and Daughters. That or the county was named in honor of a pioneer settler who was Governor of Nebraska from 1887-1891.

It was originally named Jefferson County after an author from Virginia.

The population boom of Thayer County was in 1890 when nearly 12,000 people call the county home. Currently (2010), there are 5,228 people living in Thayer County.

The county seat is Hebron. Which is one of the many towns/cities in Nebraska that I hear about all the time but have never visited.

Like many other counties in the area it is a popular destination for hunters because of the wetlands which produce countless migrating birds.

Hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing and state parks have a $2.4 billion annual economic impact on Nebraska. I’d like to know the cost of that economic impact study as well.

THE LARGEST COVERED PORCH SWING IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE

Hebron at one time claimed that he had the largest porch swing in the world. The 32-foot swing hands from irrigation pipe and holds up to 32 children or 16 adults. It is quite the attraction. It was the largest porch swing for 30 years until somebody somewhere else made a bigger one. Then the people of Hebron covered the porch swing and now claim it has the largest covered porch swing in the world.

Now the next step is to really think about whether aliens would make porch swings. Because if they don’t make porch swings, then Hebron owns the rightful claims to the largest porch swing in the entire universe!

Pretty sweet.

PRETTY INVENTIVE FARMER

A farmer from Byron strung 12-gauge wire along fence posts throughout Byron and connected it with two batteries and hooked up a transmitter and receiver to talk to his neighbors in 1902. The Byron Telephone Co. remained a locally owned business until the 1960s.

Until it became AT&T.*

*That last sentence is not true.

Communities of Thayer County

• Alexandria
• Belvidere
• Bruning
• Byron
• Carleton
• Chester
• Davenport
• Deshler
• Gilead
• Hebron
• Hubbell

MAP MAP MAP (doo da doo) MAP MAP MAP (uh hu) - Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back

Husker Stuff

Husker Greats Who Wore #32: Ken Clark, Ed Stewart, I.M. Hipp, Kent McCloughan and Adrian Fiala, Joel Makovicka.

Notables: Imani Cross, and Brandon Jackson. Should Brandon Jackson be in the category above?

Current Huskers Wearing #32: Pernell Jefferson (OLB), Katerian Legrone (TE) and Barret Pickering (QB but we just don’t know it yet)