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Featured Sponsor:
Look for these sponsors' logos throughout the various sections of this site.
Sustaining Sponsors:
This month's featured sponsors:
Our Latest Rural Business Opportunity:
Watson's Steakhouse & Saloon
Just Listed in Minden, NE
Our Latest Rural Housing Opportunity:
Country Living on 5.3 acres (m/l)
Just Listed in Imperial, NE
Welcome to Nebraska Rural Living
Nebraska Rural Living is the brainchild of two sisters who returned to their small town roots after a life pursuing their dreams in big cities. Nebraska Rural Living's mission is to market the very real benefits of a rural lifestyle by highlighting the amenities of rural communities and spotlighting successful entrepreneurs, who make good livings, free of the stress of urban environments. We offer links to a wide variety of sources and resources.
If you miss the safe, quiet streets, the wide-open sky, the sense of knowing – and caring about – your neighbors, we urge you to register and be a part of our community. And perhaps after you join us in spirit, you’ll join us in fact. more...
Livable Small Towns: Alma
Alma residents find life is fine next door to Nebraska’s second largest lake
Located just north of the Harlan County Reservoir, Nebraska’s second largest body of water, Alma is a progressive, cotton-wood shaded community with acres of green space and easy access to outdoor activities such as bicycling, wildlife viewing, fishing and upland game hunting. Lots of amenities such as parks, a golf course, and bicycle and hiking trails, combine with think-big vistas, affordable housing, and a can-do community spirit to create a town with a lot to offer businesses, entrepreneurs, retirees and families. more...
Livable Small Towns: McCook
Isolated and proud, there's more to McCook than meets the eye
Although McCook, like many rural Nebraska communities, can boast of friendly people, excellent schools and low crime, it enjoys some amenities that many smaller communities don’t have, including McCook Community College, an airport with commercial service, a modern hospital and a variety of lakes, rivers, reservoirs and open space for hunting, fishing, camping, boating and wildlife viewing. more...
Livable Small Towns: Benkelman
Benkelman is a Town With a View...and a view of the future
About as far south and west as you can go and still be in Nebraska, Benkelman is a town with a view, built on spectacular terrain featuring lookouts and ledges. Only three hours from Denver International Airport, you’ll find the hectic, high-priced urban lifestyle evolves into wholesome, affordable, rural living in Benkelman and Dundy County. more...
Livable Small Towns: Holdrege
Holdrege...Halfway to Anywhere
If you were looking for someplace that embodied the kind of values America was built on – hard work, education, common sense, care for others – you wouldn’t have to look farther than Holdrege, Nebraska. Located near the geographic midpoint of the country, Holdrege is one of those towns where all the downtown intersections are paved in brick. more...
Rural Success Stories: Andrew’s Gardens
Eat your vegetables is advice of Phelps County entrepreneur
Andrew Erickson grew up on a 1400-acre farm in Phelps County. While his dad planted corn and soybeans and raised pigs, Andrew’s mother planted vegetables and flowers. Andrew says, “From my earliest memories, I liked planting, caring for and harvesting vegetables.” more...
Rural Success Stories: Burns Podiatric Laboratory
A glove for your feet is goal of McCook orthotics company
There's a reason foot doctors in all 50 states turn to Burns Lab in McCook, Neb. for individually designed foot braces for their patients. "We've built a reputation," says Mary Thorson, general manager of the Burns Podiatric Laboratory. "We produce the best quality orthotics in the United States."
Orthotics are orthopedic devices usually fitted into shoes that are designed to treat and support various biomechanical foot disorders. more...
Rural Success Stories: Golight, Inc.
Worldwide searchlight manufacturer lights up rural Nebraska
From a countryside location near Culbertson, Neb., a remote control searchlight company serves customers throughout the world. The company, Golight, Inc., was born 14 years ago on the Hayes County, Neb. ranchland of Jerry Gohl. Now that business — which started with one product and one employee — has an array of remote control searchlight products which are marketed in all 50 states and more than 70 nations worldwide. more...
Rural Success Stories: Royal Plastic Mfg.
High-tech composite aerospace components are all in a day’s work for Minden company
Picture a military aircraft just a couple of clicks from what you’d see in a Star Wars movie or an advanced communications satellite rocketing into space. These are some of the most advanced technologies in the world today – mind-boggling complex structures of the highest-technology materials, in which every component down to the tiniest rivet has been engineered to the nth degree. That’s the kind of work they do at Royal Plastic Mfg., Inc. in Minden. more...
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Articles & Essays: Box Turtles
Box turtle study uncovers "rhythm of life" on Platte River island by Mark M. Peyton
Biologist Mark M. Peyton’s job, in part, is to make a regular assessment of the wildlife on Jeffrey Island, a 4500-acre habitat area. On a recent expedition, his “pup” sniffs out its first two ornate box turtles, and it doesn’t take long before they’re, well, doing what comes naturally. more...
Articles & Essays: Golf courses of the Republican River Valley
The rolling hills and valleys of the Republican River Valley are perfect for some of the most stunning golf courses in Nebraska
Many people have the opinion that Nebraska is flat and lifeless. These courses prove that Nebraska is beautiful — as long as you know where to look. Among the clubs and courses of the Republican Valley are Cross Creek in Cambridge, the longest public course in the state, and the unique Red Cloud Country Club, Nebraska’s “best-kept secret”. The courses range from relatively undemanding to challenging, and without a doubt, any one you choose will be entertaining and beautiful at the same time. more...
Articles & Essays: First Country Thanksgiving
A city boy’s first country Thanksgiving by Mary Kay Nelson
One brisk fall day, I walked into the house and noticed the answering machine light blinking. Play. “Mom, I’m bringing John home for Thanksgiving. Okay?” My mother’s instinct was right on target. Earlier that summer, I knew Amy had found her life’s companion. There would be a Christmas proposal followed by a spring wedding. It was time for our extended family to meet her “intended”. Thanksgiving and our traditional celebration was the right time. more...
Articles & Essays: Minden Opera House
Derelict opera house transformed to center of community pride
In 1891, Minden’s status as the county seat made it a logical spot for a new opera house, which was completed in that year. Built during an era in which every respectable town had an opera house of some kind, the Hostetler Opera House (as it was known after 1912) housed businesses on street level, with the auditorium upstairs. The auditorium served the community through the vaudeville era, evolving into a dance hall during the big band years. The auditorium never made a transition to movie theater, however, and gradually fell on hard times. more...
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Rural Foodies: Burchell's White Hill Farmhouse Inn
Burchell’s White Hill Farmhouse Inn is the quintessential country barbecue experience by Betty Sayers and Pam Soreide
You will be glad to drive a country mile to dine at Burchell’s White Hill Farmhouse Inn. If you’re looking for a farm-country kind of experience, you just can’t get more country than this. Wide fields of green corn plants flank the gravel road leading to the farmstead nine miles north and west of Minden, and while signage is minimal, the trip is well worth the adventure for some great barbeque. more...
Rural Foodies: The Cornhusker Club
Oxford's Cornhusker Club: Cajun in the country by Betty Sayers and Pam Soreide
One of the laments of rural diners is the difficulty in finding good regional and ethnic fare. But while there is a preponderance of “American cuisine” along the back roads of Nebraska, there are plenty of rewarding experiences if you’re willing to seek them out. more...
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What's Going On in Rural Nebraska
Meet me on the Midway!
Midwestern county fairs have to be the quintessential American experience. You join the throngs from dusty parking lots – families with children excitedly pulling their parents toward the carnival; teens stalking the midway in packs; farmers kicking tires at the implement display; cowboys on horseback; 4H moms carrying rabbits or leading dogs; cotton-top couples hobbling along on canes, their eyes bright with excitement. more...
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Also Featured This Month
Axtell business ships organic seed and grain products worldwide
Joe and Leisha Roberts have discovered an answer to the farmer’s perennial question: how to make a living on the farm without farming more land. more...
Ten good reasons to move to a small town
An ex-urbanite finds there are unexpected joys and pleasures to small town living. more...
Bertrand's Flippin' Sweet Café is...well, flippin' sweet
A couple from Alcatraz give a small-town café a new lease on life. more...
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