Lodgepole and the Union Pacific Railroad

South of the tracks stands Lodgepole's other survivor. Frank Isenberger built the opera house in 1911 as the upper floor of a cement-block garage with a pressed-tin false front, and the Lodge Pole Express called it an ornament to the city. Upstairs, under a tin ceiling, the town saw home-talent plays, ventriloquists, touring companies in Lena Rivers, basketball games and commencements. The run was short: Withrow Hall from about 1915, a school auditorium in 1916, movie houses, automobiles and Sidney nineteen miles off took the business. It joined the National Register in 1988, standing vacant.

What the plaque says

Lodgepole and the Union Pacific Railroad The history of Lodgepole has been closely asso- ciated with railroad development and overland travel in western Nebraska. It was originally established as a station when the Union Pacific Railroad was completed to this point in 1867. A company of U.S. soldiers from nearby Sidney Barracks camped here to guard the railroad against Indian attack, and during the early 1860's a Pony Express station was located a few miles to the east. Lodgepole derives its name from Lodgepole Creek where Indians reportedly secured timber for their tipi poles. Little permanent settlement occurred until the early 1880's, and the town was platted in 1884. By 1886 it had a population of about 200 people. Stock raising was an important early industry, and many of the state's pioneer ranches were located in the region. This depot was constructed by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1887 on a site adjacent to the tracks. It replaced an earlier section house and was in use until 1968. In 1971 a gift from Mrs. Doris Bates Rowan in memory of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. B. J. Bates, made possible its preservation at this location, where it now serves as the Lodgepole Depot Museum. Lodgepole Museum Board Cheyenne County Historical Society Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Sidney — 18 mi
  Three surviving buildings of the post that guarded the Union Pacific at Sidney from 1867 to 1894, where a young army surgeon named Walter Reed found a ward full of ugly cases.
• Julesburg — 22 mi
  The town that moved four times: a trading post, a stage stop burned in 1865, the wickedest end-of-track town on the Union Pacific, and finally Denver Junction renamed.

More markers nearby

• B-24J Bomber Crash — 9.6 mi
• Historic Lodgepole Creek Valley — 9.6 mi
• Sidney-Cheyenne County — 15 mi
• Cheyenne County — 15 mi