CITIES, AMERICAN. (KEARNEY, LEBANON.) 



L6J 



furniture factories, steam laundries, wagon 

 .shops, ornamental iron and wire works, and a 

 l>iv\MT\. The Illinois Central, Big Four, and 

 Three I liuilrnads have shops here. 



Kearney, a city of Nebraska, county seat of 

 liulTaln ('iniiiiy, south of the center of the State, 

 l!i."> miles from Omaha, 186 west of Lincoln, and 

 y west of Fort Kearney. It is 16 miles from 

 Platte river, with which it is connected by a 

 canal 'M feet wide and 4$ deep, which fur- 

 nished 2,000 horse power for manufacturing 

 in I *!>.'. It has since been widened anu 

 deepened. In 1875 it had a population of 250, 

 in 1880 of 1,782, and in 1890 of 8,074. In addi- 

 tion to the Union Pacific, the city has transpor- 

 tation facilities by the Burlington and Missouri 

 Kiver Railroad, while the Kearney and Black 

 Hills Railroad,. a local enterprise of which 66 

 miles had been constructed in 1892, has its main 

 offices and shops here. It is to be extended to 

 the coal fields of Wyoming and the mineral 

 lands of South Dakota. In 1892 the Missouri 

 Pacific Railroad was operated within 26 miles of 

 Kearney. There are 175 miles of graded streets 

 in the city, and 53 miles of sidewalks. The 

 streets vary in width from 80 to 130 feet, and 

 the main business street is provided with stone 

 curbing and gutters. Electricity is employed 

 in illumination. Twelve and a half miles of 

 sewers have been laid, at a cost of $70,000. The 

 water supply is drawn from the great underflow 

 which underlies the broad Platte valley, and has 

 its source in the snows of the Rocky mountains. 

 This is pumped and distributed through 16 miles 

 of mains. There are 160 fire hydrants, and the 

 pressure is sufficient to obviate the use of fire 

 engines. There are volunteer fire companies, 

 with 3,000 feet of hose, and an electric alarm 

 system. From 1888 to 1892 $3,576,852 were ex- 

 pended in improvements in Kearney, and an 

 opera house 5 stories high, which cost $140,- 

 000. and has a seating capacity of 1,200, 2 

 bank buildings, a business block, and several 

 large buildings, all of brick and stone, were 

 erected. The buildings of the State Industrial 

 School cost $500,000, the county courthouse 

 $100,000, and the City Hall $25,000. The depot 

 of the Union Pacific Railroad cost also $25,000. 

 A public library is maintained. Four of the 7 

 public-school buildings are of brick, and occupy 

 squares of several acres each. One of these is a 

 high school. The public-school enrollment is 

 2,200, and 40 teachers are employed. There is 

 also a business college and an Episcopal school 

 which accommodates 150 boarders, in 3 build- 

 ings, surrounded by 25 acres of land. There are 

 13 churches, and the headquarters of the mis- 

 sionary diocese of the Platte (Episcopal Church) 

 are here. The net profit to the United States 

 Government from the post-office in 1890 was 

 $8,328. The city has a free mail delivery. Four 

 national banks have an aggregate capital of 

 $500,000, and there are also a State bank and a 

 savings institution, as well as 2 loan and trust 

 companies, with handsome buildings. Two daily 

 newspapers are published, also 4 weeklies, and 

 2 monthlies, 1 religious and the other issued by 

 the State Industrial School. Five and a half 

 miles of electric street railroad are in operation. 

 Nearly every industry in the city uses the elec- 

 tric power developed by the overflow of the 



canal with a fall of 61 feet. Among these is a 

 mill with a daily capacity of 200 barrels of flour. 

 A cotton mill has been completed recently, at 

 a cost of $400,000, which operates 15,000 spin- 

 dles and employs 450 persons. It has a daily 

 capacity of 26,000 yards of unbleached muslin. 

 It is operated by water power from the canal. 

 There are 25 industries, among which are a pa- 

 per mill, oatmeal mill, woolen mill, cracker fac- 

 tory, 3 brick works, an ice company, canning, 

 pickling and vinegar works, stone works, a pack- 

 ing house, cornice works, a plow factory, a cold- 

 storage, commission and seed company, a foun- 

 dry and iron works, a manufacturing company 

 (of hinge work), and a consolidated tank line. 

 The race track of the county agricultural asso- 

 ciation is within 2 miles of the business center 

 of the city. Kearney has an altitude of 2,200 

 feet above sea level. The climate is dry and 

 healthful. The rainfall averaged, in twenty 

 years, 25-42 inches. 



Lebanon, a city of Pennsylvania, the county 

 seat of Lebanon County, southeast of the center 

 of the State, 25^ miles east of Harrisburg, and 82 

 miles from Philadelphia, on the main line of the 

 Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The Mo- 

 ravians built a church here in 1740, and another 

 was built the same year by the Mennonites. In 

 1750 the town was laid out by George Steitz and 

 called Steitztown. Twenty-two years later it 

 contained 200 houses. In" 1813 its name was 

 changed to Lebanon, at the time Lebanon 

 County was formed, being made the county 

 seat, and in 1821 it was incorporated as a bor- 

 ough. Its growth in population, wealth, and 

 commercial importance has been rapid and 

 steady, and it ranks in proportion to popula- 

 tion among the first manufacturing towns of 

 the State. In 1880 it had a population of 8,778, 

 which increased to 14,664 in 1890. The early 

 settlement of the town was originally made 

 south of Quittaphilla creek, along which mills 

 were erected ; about 1827 the Union Canal was 

 constructed, on the line of which North Leba- 

 non was built, about half a mile from the origi- 

 nal town. In 1856-'57 the Lebanon Valley 

 Railroad was completed, the line of which di- 

 vided the two towns, and added materially to 

 their growth and prosperity. In 1869 they were 

 consolidated and many improvements were 

 made. The city is regularly laid out, and the 

 streets are macadamized, with the exception of 

 one, which is paved with asphalt blocKS. An 

 electric street railway operates 14 miles of track, 

 and connects the city with Myerstown on the 

 east and Annville on the west. Pure spring 

 water is brought several miles, and both gas and 

 electricity are employed in lighting. Two 

 daily and 6 weekly newspapers are published. 

 The 25 churches are divided as follow : 5 

 Lutheran, 4 Methodist, 8 Reformed, 3 United 

 Brethren, 3 Union, 2 Presbyterian, 2 Episcopal, 

 1 Baptist, 1 Catholic, and 1 Moravian. The 

 public library is contained in the high school, 

 and there are also a hospital and a widows' 

 home. In 1887-'88 there were 8 public-school 

 buildings, with 37 teachers, and an enrollment 

 of 2,078, besides 350 pupils in private and pa- 

 rochial schools. The courthouse, a substantial 

 brick building, was erected in 1816 and enlarged 

 and remodeled in 1853. There is also a well- 





