Antioch Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Mailing ZIP code: 69311

Antioch Area Cameras

Unincorporated community · Sheridan County · Founded 1888

About Antioch

Antioch is an unincorporated community of fewer than 25 people on NE 2, the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway, and the BNSF railroad in southwestern Sheridan County, about 15 miles east of Alliance at about 3,881 feet. The concrete ruins of its potash plants stand beside the highway, and a History Nebraska marker is in a pull-out on the north side of NE 2. Hoffland is 4 miles west and Lakeside 8 miles east. Antioch is on Mountain Time.

History

The station on the Burlington's line across the Sandhills, built in 1887–88, was first called Reno; in 1890 the Reno post office counted about 50 people. The post office was renamed Antioch, for Antioch, Ohio, in 1891, and it ran until 1980. When World War I cut off German potash, two University of Nebraska chemistry graduates found a way to recover potash from the Sandhills alkali lakes. Large-scale production began in 1916, and by spring 1918 Antioch had five reduction plants (the American, Nebraska, Alliance, National and Western), its own newspaper, the Antioch News, and about 2,000 people. When French and German potash returned after the war, prices collapsed; most plants were bankrupt by September 1921, and the last one closed that year. The "Potash Highway" from Broken Bow to Alliance later became NE 2. The Antioch Potash Plants were listed on the National Register in 1979.

Highways and trails through Antioch

Route	One way	Other way
NE 2The Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway	West to Hoffland and Alliance	East to Lakeside and Ellsworth

Nearby towns

Hoffland	about 4 mi west	NE 2
Lakeside	about 8 mi east	NE 2
Alliance	about 15 mi west	NE 2
Ellsworth	about 15 mi east	NE 2
Hemingford	about 31 mi northwest	NE 2 and US 385
Hay Springs	about 43 mi north	NE 2 and NE 87

Things to see

the Antioch: Potash Boom-Town marker on the north side of NE 2, 0.3 mile west of 396 Trail · the concrete ruins of the reduction plants, visible from NE 2 (National Register) · the Antioch Cemetery · the site of Hoffland, the first potash company town, 4 miles west

Health care

Nearest hospital: Box Butte General Hospital in Alliance, about 15 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Who's Who in Nebraska, Sheridan County (1940); NEGenWeb Sheridan County (Evans and Manion accounts, Perkey data); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names; History Nebraska and its markers; National Register nominations; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Emergency Management Agency; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Sheridan County; Sheridan County Historical Society; Visit Sheridan County; Visit Nebraska; Gordon-Rushville Public Schools; Hay Springs Public Schools; Sheridan County Journal Star; Nebraska Examiner; Nebraska Public Media; Clint D. Andersen, Potash (2003). Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.