Ingham

The silica on the panel was pumice, a bed of volcanic ash. In January 1924 the Farnam Echo called the Axtell brothers' LaRue-Axtell Company plant, just southwest of Ingham, the only one of its kind in Nebraska. Crews mined, dried and refined the ash on the spot and shipped about two carloads a week, in barrels and paper bags, over a Burlington spur built to the plant. Little of it stayed in the state. Eastern firms and Canadian buyers took most of it for soaps and cleansers, paints and varnishes, and the finishing of hard rubber goods.

What the plaque says

Ingham In 1886 the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Rail- road established Ingham where its tracks crossed Deer Creek Canyon, about 2 miles northwest of here, in one of the few level spots between Farnam and Moorefield. Ingham was a way station on the Burlington Highline, which followed the divide between the Platte and Republican rivers, connecting Holdrege, Nebraska, and Sterling, Colorado. Later Ingham became a trading center for the small dry- land farms and cattle ranches in the area. A post office was established in 1898, and the first class was graduated from the Ingham High School in 1924. Silica, used chiefly in scouring powder, was mined, refined, and shipped by rail. During the late 1920s and 1930s, Ingham's fortunes began to decline. Dryland farming had from the first been only marginally profitable. Improved roads enabled the dwindling number of area resi- dents to shop and market their grain and cattle in larger communities. In 1928 the silica mill was moved to Eustis. By the early 1950s Ingham had become a memory. Wagons and other agricultural equipment are reminders of the era of horse power on the farm and of the many who contributed to settlement of the area.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

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• Central Platte Valley — 21 mi