julian
a village in nehama county, nebraska
Note from the editor: Tiny Julian has connections to Table Rock to like-minded people such as yours truly, who lived there as a toddler before her family moved to Table Rock at Christmas 1959. it is not a neighboring village, but it is not far, and their efforts to preserve their historic filling station are noteworthy. Table Rock's first filling station was built in 1926 but is long gone. It is nice to see Julian's efforts -- especially since the group of preservationists includes a former Table Rock graduate, as described in the article below.
the julian preservation committee visits table rock
A June 23, 2019 article about a trip to Table Rock:
At the last census, the population of Julian, Nebraska was 59. A goodly part of the population was thus represented when ten members of the Julian Preservation Committee arrived last week in Table Rock (last census population 269). The Committee has been restoring Julian’s historic filling station, built in 1928, and its adjacent repair garage. Last year, they were able to raise the money to put new roofs on the two buildings and install new windows. They replaced the concrete and painted the buildings. They added refurbished gas pumps and a “Julian Filling Station” sign. This year they added electricity and now the globes of the pumps and the original style lighting is up and running. You can go see it for yourself. They leave the lights on daily until 11 p.m.
The Preservation Committee has turned their thoughts to how to display some of their historic photographs, and how to deal with some treasures they found during the restoration, including an old account book found tucked away in the rafters. Ken and Grace are familiar with the Table Rock museums, Ken because he graduated from Table Rock a “few” years ago and Grace in the course of mapping the Burgert family history. They wanted the others to see how the Table Rock museum displays its photographs and artifacts and planned the trip to Table Rock to visit both the Argus Newspaper Museum & Picture Gallery and the photography studio of Harry Griebling, which is next door.
The summer exhibition at the museum is Bohemian Musicians of the Nemaha River Valley and a prominent part of it is a collection with 130 years of photographs. The original photographs are stored. Those on display are high quality archival prints made by Harry Griebling and specially mounted by Historical Society members Sherry Winkinhofer (who curated the exhibition) and Ronda Freeman.
The Julian Preservation Committee liked what they saw, and had many questions, not all easy ones. It is obvious that this is a serious group with the best part of a major accomplishment under their belt. Now they get to sort out the finishing touches, and begin planning for a grand opening. The area car buffs, who have been privileged to watch restoration projects for two filling stations in Pawnee City, are looking forward to a road trip to Julian when the time comes. Table Rock Historical Society member Sherry Winkinhofer, plays Mrs. Henry Ford at “Shawnee Town 1929,” a museum in the Kansas City area that highlights local history from1929. Mrs. Ford believes that she may fire up The Old Lady (her buff 1929 Model A) and find her way to Julian when the time comes.
Julian, by the way, was established by a French settler named Julian Bahuaud and about 40 French families settled around there and Brock. Apparently none of the diverse population that followed could pronounce Bahuaud’s last name, but Julian was easy. Table Rock was named after a – well, a table-looking rock – making life simpler. But what they do have in common is a yen for history, and Table Rock wishes them well!