r/abandoned • u/GreenTower • Oct 05 '24
Dickens, NE - A ghost town with a surprising history. [OC]
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u/Squatchbreath Oct 05 '24
I absolutely adore the building in photo 5. And would definitely rehab if I lived in that county
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u/hooligan-6318 Oct 05 '24
I know McCook was a huge military area years ago, blasted by on 83 a million times, never knew Dickens was even there.
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u/GreenTower Oct 05 '24
Stumbled upon the tiny town of Dickens and got a surprise history lesson—it was bombed during WWII…
A training bomber crew was doing nighttime training exercises nearby. The crew mistook the town’s streetlights for their practice targets, dropping multiple 100 lb practice bombs that damaged the bank and grocery store. Luckily, the practice bombs were not explosive so the destruction was fairly minor.
While I was taking these photos, two women pulled up and jokingly introduced themselves as the unofficial "neighborhood watch." They grew up here and told me a little of the town's less absurd history. Their grandmother got married in the local church, and the building next door was the parsonage where they’d cook community dinners. The road in front of the church was the spot for town dances. The small brick building was the bank.
The town is now largely abandoned, but a few families still call it home.