EXPLORE NEBRASKA HIGHWAY 2
Promoting the Communities along the highway
WELCOME TO THE HEART OF NEBRASKA!
WELCOME to our Nebraska Highway 2 website. Come and stay awhile and explore the diversity that is Nebraska!
Visit our communities and discover the welcoming friendly spirit of the great people of this State.
Here you can find events going on in the
communities along Nebraska Highway 2 and beautiful, interesting places to discover and find the amenities available for your
traveling needs.
Nebraska Highway 2
rolls through the heart of the State of Nebraska,
from Nebraska City on the banks of the Missouri River in the Southeast to Crawford in the Pine Ridge area of the
State in the Northwest. Ultimately, you will find a webpage for each of the 33 communities along Nebraska Highway 2. We
are adding communities all of the time! If you have a suggestion, a question or would like to make a comment on our
website, please feel welcome to use the email address below. We love hearing from you!
Along Nebraska Highway 2 are large communities and small communities and some communities that are only a
ghost of themselves. Each community
has its own history and stories to tell. On the community webpages you will find what you need
to meet your traveling needs: food, rest, fuel, events, sights to see, things to do.
Introduction to Nebraska - The Good Life!
If you are curious about the Good Life that is Nebraska - take a look at this youtube video for a beautiful and
inviting introduction.
Video about Nebraska life.
And this one.
A nice write up
by Christophe Noel about why you should travel "Nebraska, yes, Nebraska" in
Destination Nebraska.
Come see for
yourself why we proudly call our home "the Good Life!"
SOME HISTORY OF NEBRASKA HIGHWAY 2
Nebraska highway 2 is a discontinuous highway. The highway runs from Nebraska City west to Lincoln where
it disappears into the city itself. 82 miles further west it reappears at Grand Island and continues west and
northwest to the South Dakota border north of Crawford. The second leg of the highway includes 272 miles of the
Sandhills Scenic Byway from Grand Island to Alliance. This leg of Nebraska Highway 2 has been deemed one of the most
beautiful drives in the United States.
Just east of Alliance along Nebraska highway 2 you will find the remnants of Antioch, Nebraska, a once bustling town
in an area which provided potash during World War I. For a brief introduction to the Sandhills’ part in
potash
production, read a historical accounting from Jim McKee and the Lincoln JournalStar newspaper.
Nebraska highway 2 was initially called the “Potash” highway and it traveled east from Antioch to
Grand Island and south to Hastings, east to Fairmont and then south to Wichita, Kansas.
The communities in western Nebraska enthusiastically called for a highway route from Alliance to Grand Island
which would connect them to the larger economic areas. The discovery of potash near Antioch gave rise to population
booms in Antioch and Lakeside. Populations which died off after the war ended and less expensive methods of obtaining
potash were relied on once again. However, the need for a dependable drivable roadway did not die off and in 1926
Nebraska highway 2 incorporated that section of the roadway called the “Potash” highway. A great source
of information about the history of Nebraska Highway 2 and the Potash Highway can be found at
Nebraska State Historical Society.
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Dial or click 511 for travel information
