Nebraska Businesses Take Historical Approach

April 24, 2015, 6:45 a.m. ·

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Sampter's Clothing in downtown Fremont has been in operation since 1925. (Photo by Ryan Robertson, NET News)

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The National Register of Historic Places has more than one thousand listings in Nebraska. Places like old farmsteads, houses, bridges, prairies and parks. The list of historic sites grows even more when you take into account things that have local historic significance. That history is now encouraging new economic investments.


On an acre-and-a-half of mostly long grass just off of Highway 2 in southwest Lincoln, former Lincoln police officer Brian Podwinski described the future headquarters of his current endeavor, Blue Blood Brewing Company.

ABOVE: The front entrance of Robbers Cave has been walled off for some time, and recently truckloads of dirt have been dumped over the entrance to keep out trespassers.

BELOW: Wooden stakes mark where the caverns of Robbers Cave are located. Brian Podwinski said the actual chambers of the cave are between 20-30 feet below ground. (Photos by Ryan Robertson, NET News)

There were a few fallen trees, some trash, and around a dozen wooden posts marking where Podwinski plans to build his new brewery.

But he isn’t buying the land because of what’s above ground. Podwinski said he is far more interested in what is below.

Although blocked by a mountain of dirt, Podwinski lead me to the entrance of Lincoln’s folkloric “Robbers Cave.”

“For almost a generation now, it’s been off limits,” Podwinski said. “Obviously some have broken in, but legally it’s been off limits. So to bring that back and allow all of us who have been wondering ‘what’s the big deal behind robber’s cave?’ Now we’re going to know.”

Reports on Robbers Cave date back more than 150 years. There are local ghost stories about strange sounds coming from deep within the carved out sandstone.

The outlaw Jesse James was said to have visited the cave in 1876, after a bank heist in Minnesota. And strangely enough, the cave (consisting of multiple chambers) was actually used by a brewery in the 1860’s to store and age beer.

“If it was just a hole in the ground, no history behind it and no folklore, it would be really hard for us to justify spending more money to bring it back to life,” Podwinski said. “In terms of the historical sense of this property, [the folklore] is what really makes it unique and something that we feel is necessary to bring back.”

But you don’t need ghost stories and gunfighters to turn a historic site into a business. About an hour and a half northwest of Robbers Cave, sits a one-room school house known as District 10.

Surrounded by nothing but cropland and built just four years after Jesse James supposedly played poker at Robbers Cave, District 10 served area students until 1970.

Five years ago, Mary Sohl bought District 10, and turned it into what she’s termed “a social gathering place.”

ABOVE: District 10, a former one-room school house turned "social gathering place," was built in 1877 on the Powell Homestead. For more information about District 10, click here.

BELOW: Inside District 10, owner Mary Sohl said she worked hard to maintain the historic school house theme. Sohl said the schoolhouse provides a place to relax for those who decide to "travel the gravel." (Photos by Ryan Robertson, NET News)

“I’ve had people who have lived here and moved away and have come back, and they sit down and they reminisce about days gone by,” Sohl said.

Complete with beer, wine, and a dunce cap (a crowd favorite), Sohl said her schoolhouse turned quasi-saloon attracts customers from across the country. Some of her regulars went to school at District 10. She even had a former teacher stop in for a drink.

“She was hired to teach the school here from 1940 to 1943. She made $24 a month; $12 of which went to her room and board,” Sohl said.

Sohl wasn’t sure what kind of business District 10 would become when she began restoring the 138-year-old building. However, she knew she would maintain the historic significance of the building.

“It appeals to so many people. If only these walls could talk, you know? I think people need to have a reminder of days gone by, and their history, and where they came from,” Sohl said. (Click here to learn more about District 10)

Whether it’s a cave in a city, or a schoolhouse in the middle of nowhere, capitalizing on history is proving to be good for the state’s economy. So much so, that for the first time since its inception, the state of Nebraska began issuing tax credits this year to businesses trying to refurbish historic sites.

Bob Puschendorf works in the historic preservation office for the Nebraska State Historical Society.

“The problem we saw is people were trying to invest in these historic buildings, and when they put funds into them, their taxes were increased,” Puschendorf said. “This is a public good as we see it. We had to have a constitutional amendment changed to authorize the state law, and I think it was very amazing that 58 percent of the population voted for the tax incentive.”

The new law sets aside $15 million a year until 2018--money that is awarded in the form of a 20 percent income tax credit to businesses in the program.

“So if you put $100,000 into a building, you can get a state income tax credit of $20,000,” Puschendorf said.

46 projects have been selected this year for credits, representing $84 million in investment. Puschendorf said the bulk of the tax credits are going to people looking to revive buildings in downtown locations like Fremont, in northeast Nebraska.

Shannon Mullen is the executive director of Main Street Fremont, a non-profit tasked with preserving and promoting Fremont’s historic district. Mullen said more than 200 businesses make up the city’s historic district, which is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Our downtown improvement district, our city and the county find it to be a hub for entertainment and activities. We know that a healthy downtown means a healthy community,” Mullen said.

In addition to private investment, Mullen said Fremont also took advantage of state grant money in the form of a community development block grant to improve the facades around Fremont’s historic district.

In Lincoln, Brian Podwinski said Blue Blood Brewing will look to take advantage of tax increment financing programs from the city, to turn a seemingly non-descript location from urban folklore into an economic contributor.

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