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For the motoring people of Cedar County, good news arrived on Sept. 22, 1934.
Gov. Charles W. Bryan announced that another 16 miles of Highway 20 would be paved.
Although plans had been in the works for several years, the project had been held up because of a controversy over the proposed routing of the highway. The Governor’s announcement indicated that the controversy had been settled.
Highway 20 already had been paved to a point north of Waterbury and work was underway to extend the paving another six miles to the junction of Highway 9 north of Allen. But, in order to obtain federal funds for the construction of the next segment of the road, federal officials insisted that the highway run straight west from what is now the weigh station corner. This would shorten the distance from Sioux City to O’Neill but would bypass Laurel, Belden, Randolph and other towns as had been done to Waterbury and Allen.
Civic leaders from these towns objected vigorously and the project was held up for some time.
After lengthy and heated negotiations, an agreement was reached to extend the paving straight west to the corner three miles north of Laurel where the highway would turn south as far as the school house corner then turn west and follow the existing Highway 20.
Plans called for preliminary grading and bridge construction to be started in the fall of 1934 with paving work to begin in the spring of 1935. The cost of the 16-mile extension was estimated at approximately $500,000.
In other news of September 1934: Hartington marked its 51st birthday on September 21 with little fanfare. Hartington’s exact birth date was a matter of dispute. A plat map had been filed at the court house in St. Helena on Sept. 18, 1883. The first lots were sold at auction on the 23rd. When civic leaders were making plans for the celebration that marked Hartington’s 50th birthday they decided to split the difference and celebrate on Sept. 21, 1933. A similar state of uncertainty existed when plans were being made for Laurel’s 75th birthday celebration. The town had been platted as Claramont Junction on October 31, 1890, but not much happened until Oscar Waite opened the town’s first general store in the early months of 1892. By April of that year, the town, then known as Laurel, had approximately 75 residents. It took another year for the population to hit 200 -- the number needed for incorporation. The town’s name was officially changed to Laurel on May 1, 1893, and was incorporated on May 15.
If Hartington’s example had been followed, a case could have been made to celebrate Laurel’s Diamond Jubilee either in 1965, 75 years after the plat map was filed, or in 1967, 75 years after the first lots were sold. Instead, the people who planned the celebration opted for 1968, the 75th anniversary of the town’s incorporation. As a result, Laurel celebrated its centennial in 1993.
In another story, somewhat off topic, Tim Walz, current governor of Minnesota and former nominee for vice president on the 2024 Democratic ticket, has been in the news lately. Readers may not know that Governor Walz also has a Cedar County connection.
Walz’ father, James Frederick Walz, was born in Hartington in 1929. His grandfather, Raymond Anthony Walz, was born in Hartington in 1904. The family lived in Hartington until March 1937 at which time they moved to Ida Grove, Iowa.
Raymond‘s father, John Friederich Walz, came to Hartington in 1892 and operated a meat market for a number of years. He died in 1961 and is buried in Hartington. Governor Walz’ great-great grandfather, Sebastian Walz, was born in Germany in 1843 and died in Lawrence, Nebraska in 1915.
