Friend, NE

AZCorey · Post by **AZCorey** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:03 pm

Before moving to Omaha in 1991, I grew up in Friend, Nebraska, a small town of 1100 people west of Lincoln in Saline County. It's a fairly charming place, and if anyone is ever driving Highway 6 and passes through it, take some photos please! Friend has the world's smallest (according to the Guiness Book of World Records) police station! Actually I think now after 30 years it moved into a bigger place, but it wasn't much larger than a pay toll both at a parking lot. They've got a great old depot, and still have an abandoned opera house that is just sitting there rotting away.....I can't believe no one has tried to restore it.

Please post pics if any of you is ever out in those neck of the woods!

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 5:53 pm

The smallest town with a website?

http://www.ci.friend.ne.us

projectman · Post by **projectman** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:33 pm

I found the website for Omaha, Arkansas

http://www.omahaweb.net/

AZCorey · Post by **AZCorey** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:36 pm

jhuston wrote:

The smallest town with a website? http://www.ci.friend.ne.us

I know.....I'll be there in a couple of weeks for Christmas.....always a culture shock! Good people there, though!

Zephyr · Post by **Zephyr** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:01 pm

I've been through Friend many times on the California Zephyr, but never driven there. Friend was surveyed in November, 1873, and was named in honor of Charles E. Friend, on whose farm the site is located. Mr. Friend was the first storekeeper and postmaster of the town.

AZCorey · Post by **AZCorey** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 11:10 am

Wow Zephyr! You really did your homework! Most people don't know that about Friend.....

You get an A+ in Friend history!

The old famous saying that you can buy on postcards there is: 'Write A Friend from Friend'

AZCorey · Post by **AZCorey** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 11:13 am

YEP! That's it, the world's smallest police station! The old Amoco station across the street is now the new police station....they moved into their 'new' facility last year!

I also just went to that website, and I was mistaken, it was 'Ripley's Believe it Or Not' that stated the police station was the smallest, not 'The Guiness Book of World Records'. Sorry! It's been awhile!

awwwwwwwwww....there's no place like home!

almighty_tuna · Post by **almighty_tuna** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:39 pm

jhuston wrote: The smallest town with a website? http://www.ci.friend.ne.us

Nope, Shickley, NE has 361 people and a website with music!! My aunt and uncle live there, my mom graduated from there many moons ago and all my cousins on that side (albeit much more recently than the early 70's!). Sadly, one of the many Nebraska towns who is losing people.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:43 pm

projectman wrote:I found the website for Omaha, Arkansas

http://www.omahaweb.net/

Funny story about that...

This fall I was in Branson Missouri. My sister and I were working out in the fitness center of the resort we were staying at and there's this guy in there. Of course, he starts hitting on my sister, as most guys do (gag

) and he asks where we're from. Of course, I say "Omaha", no mention of state (Because Omaha's too good to tag the state on the end, right?). So then the guy is like, "Yeah, I drove through Omaha one time. Not a very big town, is it? It seemed pretty dead with not much to do," or something to that effect. I said nothing, but of course was REALLY frustrated and angry with this guy for being so "ignorant". Anyway, come to find out later that Omaha, Arkansas is in the far northern part of the state, near the Arkansas/Missouri border, which is where we were in Missouri. Omaha, Arkansas was less than 20 miles away, so of course, the guy, being from Branson, would assume that's what we meant. So I turned out to be the "ignorant" one

.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 1:17 pm

When my Granpa was in heck's Angels him and his friends drove by that jail and couldn't beileve how small it was. He's got pictures of them in front of it pointing and laughing. I have driven by it on my trips out west.

guy4omaha · Post by **guy4omaha** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 2:38 am

Funny story about that...

Omaha, Arkansas is in the far northern part of the state, near the Arkansas/Missouri border, which is where we were in Missouri. Omaha, Arkansas was less than 20 miles away, so of course, the guy, being from Branson, would assume that's what we meant. So I turned out to be the "ignorant" one

.[/quote]

Arkansas has another town called Oma. It is on a back county paved road southwest of Hot Springs, Arkansas. It has only one Street that crosses the county road. The street's name: Omaha.

I am not a qualified census taker but with 5 houses clustered on this road, my population estimate is for Oma is 11. By the way, if your interested in visiting Oma, you take the county paved road out past the Pettyview dump.

After my post on some other threads, I really shouldn't be including that last paragraph. Let's face it, I am just a bad person.