Potter and the Union Pacific Railroad

On July 6, 1928, a storm from the west dropped hailstones as large as grapefruit on Potter. J. J. Norcross of the Potter Drug Co. weighed them on his store scales and swore before a notary that one measured 17 inches around and weighed a pound and a half. H. Stevens, editor of the Potter Review and the town's cooperative weather observer since 1921, wrote that the stones buried themselves in plowed ground. Thomas A. Blair of the Weather Bureau at Lincoln printed the affidavits, calling it apparently the largest hailstone of authentic record anywhere in the world.

What the plaque says

Potter and the Union Pacific Railroad Potter began as a small Union Pacific Railroad settlement and depot, midway between Kimball and Sidney. The station house was built by Union Pacific in 1870 and, as the only building in the settlement, also served as the post office and school. Its proximity to Fort Sidney allowed for a company of soldiers to billet their animals one-half mile south of Potter. In 1885, with a population of 75, Potter was platted. The presence of the railroad brought many farmers and ranchers to Potter during the 1880s. Drought in the early 1890s resulted in many of them leaving. A second wave of settlement occurred with the passage of the Kinkaid Act in 1907. The Village of Potter was incorporated in 1912. This depot was constructed in 1885 and remained in use until 1971. It was moved to Buffalo Bend, before being donated and returned to the Village of Potter in 1989. The citizens of Potter have made the preservation of the depot possible. It now serves as the Potter Depot Museum. Village of Potter Historical Museum Board History Nebraska, 2020

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Sidney — 19 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.

More markers nearby

• Early Irrigation in Cheyenne County — 1.0 mi
• Sioux Army Depot — 11 mi
• Geology — 13 mi
• The Golden Link — 13 mi