Lawrence Gibbs 128 pages softcover
Sugar beets are as
tenaciously rooted in Nebraska's history as they are in its soil,
especially in a seventy-mile stretch of the North Platte Valley that
extended into eastern Wyoming. The state's first processing facility
opened in Grand Island in 1890, boasting the largest mill in the world.
The height of the beet boom occurred in the early part of the twentieth
century as Wyobraskan towns courted factory locations as feverishly as
rival sugar companies competed for territory, and an irrigation network
turned the region into America's Valley of the Nile. Some rail lines
have disappeared from the map, while catastrophes like the Scottsbluff
and Bayard sugar bin explosions and the Gering Molasses spill will never
be forgotten. From neglected beet dumps and abandoned rail spurs to
silos ready for future harvests, explore Sugar Valley's heritage with
Lawrence Gibbs.
