This thriving village is situated on
the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, on the line extending from
Hastings to
Red Cloud, and in the northern part
of the county about one mile south of the Adam's County line. The town
was
surveyed and platted in September, 1878,
by A. B. Smith, the town surveyor, for the railroad company. The
townsite as laid out is on the northwest
one-quarter of Section 9, Town 4, Range 10, west. The land was
originally owned by Thomas B. Rohrer,
of Hagerstown, Maryland, who gave the railroad company a one-half
interest in the lots to survey the town
and establish a railroad station. When platted, this site was the center
of a
fertile and well settled country. There
is a large German settlement surrounding the town.
As soon as surveyed, the building up
of the town commenced. The railroad company at once began the erection
of a section house and depot, which
were completed in due time. I. O. Martin was appointed to take charge of
the station, and arrived on October
20, 1878, before the station was completed, and opened the telegraph office.
The station was completed and opened
in November.
The first citizen to erect a building
was Albert Blumenthal, who selected a lot as soon as the survey was
completed and at once began to dig a
cellar. He put up a hotel 16x24 feet in size, to which he afterward built
an
addition. The hotel was opened October
9, 1878. The post office was established soon after and John Wetmore
was the first postmaster, but he was
soon succeeded by I. O. Martin.
James Murtaugh opened a blacksmith shop November 10, 1878.
Col. J. S. Hoover began grain buying on November 16, 1878.
J. W. Davis opened the first store with a stock of general merchandise on November 23.
Andrew Dice opened a hotel on the 18th day of December.
A lumber yard was opened in November by Kettler & Kreigsman.
The first sermon was preached in 1878, by Rev. Chas. Meyer, of the German Lutheran Church.
The first child born was a daughter to
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Blumenthal, in the fall of 1879. A boy named Fred
Kobisch was born about the same time.
On July 28, 1879, the growing young town
was visited by a storm that threatened its destruction. A dark cloud
was seen coming up. Soon it passed over
and then came a terrible storm of wind and rain. Mr. Tierman's store
was unroofed; Smith's livery stable
was unroofed and the end blown out; the front was blown out of
Mendelbaum's store; Davis' store was
badly damaged, the goods wet and many of them ruined; eight cars were
blown off the track; windmills were
torn down, and everything badly racked by the wind. The storm extended
over no great extent of country, but
a great deal of damage was done on farms in the vicinity of Blue Hill.
Ever since the foundation of the town
of Blue Hill it has continued to grow steadily. It now has a population
of
more than 300. There are lumber yards,
grain elevators, two hotels, one bank, and quite a large number of
business houses, carrying a stock of
everything demanded for a country trade. It is a grain market of considerable
local importance and the amount of business
done is great in proportion to the size of the town. The town is still
advancing steadily in population and
improvements, and in the amount of business done.