Alliance Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

ALLIANCE WEATHER

City · Box Butte County · County seat · Population 8,151 (2020 census) · ZIP 69301 · Founded 1888 · Peak population 9,920 (1980)

About Alliance

Alliance is a city of 8,151 people (2020), the seat of Box Butte County, at about 3,970 feet on the western edge of the Sandhills. US 385 and NE 2 meet here, NE 87 runs north past Carhenge toward Hay Springs, and the BNSF main line carries Powder River Basin coal trains through one of its larger yards. Alliance has Box Butte General Hospital, Alliance Public Schools, St. Agnes Academy, a Western Nebraska Community College campus, the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center, the Carnegie Arts Center, the Big Blue Bay pool, the 18-hole Skyview Golf Course, a commercial airport and private RV parks near Carhenge. Alliance is on Mountain Time.

History

The Burlington built into the Sandhills in 1887–88, and a boomtown called Grand Lake sprang up ahead of the tracks. The railroad refused the name; its Lincoln Land Company platted Alliance next door and sold lots in February 1888, and Burlington official G. W. Holdrege chose the new name. Alliance became a division point with shops and a roundhouse. Voters made it the county seat in October 1898, and in July 1899 the Burlington hauled the frame courthouse about 20 miles from Hemingford on flatcars in six hours. The present Beaux Arts courthouse followed in 1913–14, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built the Central Park fountain in 1935. In 1942 the Army built the Alliance Army Air Field east of town, a 31,000-acre base where some 12,500 people trained glider, troop-carrier and paratroop crews by 1943; it became the municipal airport. In 1987 Jim Reinders and his family raised Carhenge north of town. Alliance reached 9,920 people in 1980.

Highways and trails through Alliance

Route	One way	Other way
US 385Through town	North with NE 2 to Berea, then to Chadron	South to Bridgeport
NE 2Through town, the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway	East to Antioch, Lakeside and Hyannis	Northwest to Berea, Hemingford and Marsland
NE 87Begins in Alliance	North past Carhenge to Hay Springs

Nearby towns

Letan	about 7 mi south-southwest	US 385
Berea	about 9 mi northwest	NE 2 and US 385
Antioch	about 15 mi east	NE 2
Hemingford	about 18 mi northwest	NE 2
Angora	about 22 mi southwest	US 385
Lakeside	about 23 mi east	NE 2
Nonpareil	about 24 mi northwest	NE 2 and local roads
Ellsworth	about 31 mi east	NE 2
Marsland	about 32 mi northwest	NE 2
Bridgeport	about 32 mi south-southwest	US 385
Bayard	about 33 mi southwest	US 385 and US 26
Hay Springs	about 41 mi north-northeast	NE 87
Scottsbluff	about 44 mi west-southwest	US 385 and US 26
Rushville	about 47 mi north-northeast	NE 87
Crawford	about 49 mi northwest	NE 2
Chadron	about 51 mi north	US 385
Hyannis	about 58 mi east	NE 2

Things to see

Carhenge, 3 miles north on NE 87, free and open daily · the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center, 908 Yellowstone Ave. · the Sallows Military Museum in Central Park · the Carnegie Arts Center, 204 W. 4th St. · the 1935 Central Park fountain, on the National Register · the 1913–14 Box Butte County Courthouse and the downtown historic district, both on the National Register · the Alliance Army Air Field marker on NE 2 east of town · Dobby’s Frontier Town, Snake Creek Trail and Laing Lake

Events in Alliance

Alliance Heritage Days
2026 Event — "Rails, Roots, and Resilience. " July 14–19, 2026 (Tuesday–Sunday), in Downtown Alliance (200–600 Block).

More about this event: Alliance Area Events

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Alliance Public Schools, 1604 Sweetwater Ave., (308) 762-5475: Alliance High School, 1450 Box Butte Ave.; Alliance Middle School, 1112 Laramie Ave.; Emerson and Grandview elementary schools; St. Agnes Academy (K–8), 1104 Cheyenne Ave.; Western Nebraska Community College, 1750 Sweetwater Ave.

Health care: Box Butte General Hospital, 2101 Box Butte Ave., Alliance, (308) 762-6660; GNMSS clinics and walk-in clinic, Medical Arts Plaza, 2091 Box Butte Ave.

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Box Butte County (boxbuttecountyne.gov); City of Alliance; Village of Hemingford; NEGenWeb Box Butte County; Nebraska Who's Who (1940) county sketch; 1890 Nebraska State Gazetteer; History Nebraska (incl. "Moving the Courthouse" and marker 416); National Register; NDOT; Nebraska Game and Parks; Box Butte General Hospital; Alliance Chamber of Commerce; Alliance Times; SchoolDigger; Nebraska Library Commission; SPACES; Open Plains Transit. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.