|
|
The first Czech settlers came into the area in
1865, and approximately 90 percent of the town's 1,250 inhabitants were
of Czech descent in 1900. With them came a love for music, drama,
gymnastics,
education, patriotism, well-tended lawns and gardens, and traditional
Czech
foods. From early times on there were two opera houses, many fraternal
organizations, and annual summer carnivals to celebrate the harvest.
Wilber was platted on March 10, 1873, on land donated by C.D.
Wilber, after whom the town was named. Early merchants
were W.H.
Mann and Charles Harvey, who built a dam and a mill on the Big Blue
River; W.C.
Henry, who built an elevator; and C.D. Wilber, owner of The Wilber
House. By
1875 the population was 800. Wilber became the county seat following
an 1877
election.
The Wilber Mill, established in 1873, was rebuilt in 1913
and an electrical
power unit was added. Hotel Wilber was built in 1895
and is
now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Some Wilber residents who have become prominent in their chosen
fields:
-
Dr. Olga Sadilek Stastny, the first Czech woman physician in Nebraska,
was elected to the Nebraska Women's Hall of Fame in 1975.
-
August Molzer, an 1897 Wilber High graduate, was a violinist who studied
in Europe with Anton Dvorak and others and also served in the University
of Nebraska Music Department and at Wesleyan.
-
John Grant Tobias, an artist who lived in Wilber from 1924 to 1939,
donated
many of his scenes of Saline County to the Nebraska State Historical
Society.
- Frank Sadilek, a prominent politician from 1883 through 1918, who
served
as county clerk and treasurer as well as a state senator, and was
the author
of My Reminiscences.
- Irma
Ourecky, promoter of
many Czech events, was given the Henry Fonda Award in 1990 by the
Nebraska
Tourism Foundation for her work in Wilber and across the state.
In 1962 the Czechs of Wilber organized the Nebraska Czechs, Inc., in
order to
preserve the culture and heritage of the past through other groups in the state, of which there are eight other chapters in addition to Wilber. Wilber was proclaimed
"Czech Capital
of Nebraska" by Governor Frank Morrison in 1963. The designation was
further expanded
on July 10, 1987, when Wilber was named "The Czech Capital of the
U.S.A." by proclamation
signed by President Ronald Reagan. A Czech Festival is held annually in
Wilber.
For more information, view the schedule
of events.
|
