Historical Significance

During the settlement of the West, leaders of small towns "boosted" or promoted their town with the goal of attracting more settlers. Boosters even published advertisements for available lands in German and Czech. One pamphlet dubbed eastern Nebraska "the Garden of the West." Railroad companies thought that if they constructed railroad lines, towns would pop up along the routes and produce greater prosperity. The Czech language pamphlet showed how one town would prosper within the first six years. They were very successful--the town of Wilber, Nebraska is home to the largest Czech population in the Midwest.