Loup River Freighter Hotel
Loup River Freighters Hotel was built in 1884 by Jerome Lalone, a house painter and wallpaper hanger from Kearney. Mr. Lolone purchased land in the northwestern corner of Buffalo County along the South Loup river in 1883. he built the house along a wagon road between Kearney and Broken Bow. Lolone built extra bedrooms to rent to freight wagon drivers who stopped overnight. These freighters were carrying supplies between Kearney and Broken Bow before railroad lines were completed.
The house originally had a wing behind the kitchen. This wing contained a dining room on the main floor, two bedrooms on the second floor for freighters, and a cellar. The freighter used the room to the right of the front door as a parlor and the Lolone family used the room to th left of the front door as a parlor.
Mr. Lalone lost the house and property in a sheriff’s sale in 1893. It was purchased by Felix and Flavia Eckhout. Four generations of Eckhout family lived in the house until they donated it to the Trails and Rails Museum of the Buffalo County Historical Society in 1983.
Marker can be reached from West 11th Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
