nnj luicyuinj; yuu can juuge ior vonrspit u
.Saturday I
9AM 4
MA.KCM. HIS
X' 1. Will
to
BRIDGEPORT
Railroad Center of the North Platte
Valley--Popular Convention City--Lo-catlon
of the Annual Meeting of the
Nebraska State Irrigation Association
"1
A Few Pertinent Facts
By Wm. Ritchie, Jr.
Bridgeport, the county seat
Morrill county, In the words of
of
with Nortbport as a division point.
The development of the North
Platte Valley under irrigation com
menced at the west border of the
state and has followed the river east
ward. There are thousands of acres
of valuable, Irrigable land lying in
and around Bridgeport which have
prominent official of the Burlington ( yet their development before the
in.
companylng map will show. When
the U. P. completes Its north river
line, Bridgeport will have direct lines
to the Black Hills of South Dakota
and to all sections of Wyoming and
Montana, and the lines running pouth
towards Denver will bring trade from
Colorado points, while the lines
north, east and west thru the North
Platte Valley In Nebraska make
Bridgeport the logical wholesale cen
ter of the west.
Manufacturing interests have long
looked upon Bridgeport favorably.
Thousands of tons of ore are annual
ly shipped thru this town from the
mines of Wyoming and South Dakota j
to Colorado smelters and when the j
Kearney-Bridgeport line of the Bur-J
lington is completed tons of ore j
furnishes an abundance of feed for
the thousands of cattle raised in the
sand hills north and east of town.
Twenty miles south there is a tsble
land which for years has produced an
average of 25, 30 and 35 bushels of
wheat of the very best quality.
One hundred acres of horse radish
are being planted this spring, and
cabbages, cucumbers, sweet corn nnd
other such vegetables are raised In
abundance and grow in profusion.
The business establishments of the
city include three general stores,
each carrying a large and varied
stock of goods; three banks with am
ple capital for the transaction of a
large business, a hardware store, sev
eral grocery stores, one of the best
hotels in the valley, restaurants, two
tUilrwdt CofflbWt
fUilraada Undr OmsiructKii
k""
v ' I !&L
jrftn .
Map Showing Bridgeport's location as the Railroad
Center of the North Platte Valley
I
railroad, "Has before tt a greater
growth and development than any
other city in the state."
This Is accounted for by the fact
that the Burlington railroad has re
cently completed its line from
Bridgeport through to Billings and is
planning to connect this line with the
Omaha-Hastings-Kearney branch of
the Burlington, which will make the
only water grade route to the Pacific
coast Bridgeport is to be a division
point on this line.
In addition to this, the Union Pa
cific runs through Northport, Just a
mile from the central business part
of Bridgeport, and eventually the U.
P. line will be completed to make a
through freight line to the coast,
The prosperity which followed the
development of the country to the
west of Bridgeport, in and around
Scottabluff, has Just begun to be felt
in Bridgeport and vicinity.
Last year fifteen hundred tons of
sugar beets were shipped each day
thru Bridgeport to Colorado sugar
factories. This Ehows that Bridge
port can and will eventually support
a sugar factory, which, in the words
of a Burlington official, "Will cause
Bridgeport to duplicate, if not out
strip, the growth which followed the
location of the sugar factory at
ScottsblutT.
In addition to its agricultural fa
cilities, Bridgeport is an ideal loca
tion for wholesale bouses, us the ac-
which formerly went to Omaha by
other routes will be routed thru
Bridgeport.
Coal and oil are found in abund
ance within a radius of fifty miles
and there are indications of oil in the
immediate vicinity. The large
amount of water power now stored
in the dams of the North Platte river
and capable of development in the
immediate vicinity spell a wonderful
! future for this town.
The surrounding country is von-
dei fully adapted to cattle feeding and
stock raising. The cattle and grain
: markets of Omaha, Kansas City and
j Denver are within easy reach. The
town lies in an irrigable valley ap
I proximately ten miles wide which
garages, blacksmith shops and such
other lines of business as are neces
sary to accommodate the large and
rapidly increasing trade of the pros
perous farming and ranch country
contiguous to the city.
There are three churches in the
town, Presbyterian, Baptist and Epis
copal, and the school facilities are of
the best. The High school is an ac
credited school with Normal Training
and business course, and a new $25,
000 High school building has just
been started.
The scenery in the valley is very
beautiful. The hlMs to the north
and south of the valley and the un
usual rock formations are pictur
esque and add greatly to its beauty.
.v v
i vi
t 1111 lerns Slid t'jthrifv
Hi