NEGenWeb Project
Platte County, Nebraska
Photos from the Creston-Leigh Area

The pictures in this group were submitted by Melvin D. Bellinger (melbellinger@comcast.net). If you have more information about some of the photos that are not identified, please let either Melvin or me know.
Also, I have cropped these pictures in order to make them load faster. If you have a particular interest in a photo, please contact Melvin for a copy of the original.

These photos are part of a collection of Anna Staab Newman who grew up on the Creston-Leigh area. Most of the photos are probably 1920's and before. Anna Theresa Staab Newman (1886 - 1970) was born at Leigh, married in 1907 and moved to North Dakota. These were possibly her "school friends;" thus most photos are circa 1900 - 1910.

CRESTON -- PLATTE COUNTY

The 210 residents of Creston, in northern Platte County, may be surprised to learn that their town was named for a woman. In 1876 -- long before the equal rights movement -- Ida Creston rode on horseback from the Boheet postal station southeast of Columbus to Arlington Township with the mail. That year the settlement's name was changed from "Arlington" (already the name of a post office in Otoe County) to "Creston."

The railroad, a branch of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley, arrived in 1886, providing both passenger and freight service. It also gave impetus to the establishment of nearly 40 businesses in subsequent years. Comprised largely of German immigrants, Creston incorporated in 1890.

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