Days after the town was established in 1882 as a division point on the Chicago, Quincy & Burlington railroad, the original townspeople gathered to make plans for a Fourth of July celebration.

The early McCookites were already thinking big. At the Independence Day planning meeting -- which took place May 26, 1882 -- the town's new citizens decided to secure the best musical talent available to entertain local residents and special guests brought to McCook by the CB&Q's newly arrived passenger service.

It's amazing how quickly the town grew.

From open plains without people in March of 1882, McCook zoomed to a population of more than 1,000 by the time the town celebrated its first Christmas.

The quick growth happened because of two things: CB&Q's decision to make McCook a division point, thereby assuring that the new town would be the hub for railroad operations between the Missouri River and Denver; and the homestead movement, which brought hundreds of families to Southwest Nebraska to stake claims for farms and ranches.

Because of those two major developments, McCook instantly became a trade center, with the Main Street of the new town soon filled on both sides with business establishments.

As we celebrate another Christmas, let's take a step back in history. Let's go back to December of 1882 and see what choices early McCook area residents had for Christmas gifts and every day supplies.

We find this out by peering at the microfilmed pages of McCook's first newspaper, "The McCook Weekly Tribune." The first issue was dated June 8th, 1882.

Each week, the number of advertisers grew as more stores moved their operations to McCook.

By Christmas time, the list of establishments included:

* A. Bristow, a grocery store and confectionary featuring a full stock of groceries and provisions, including teas, sugars and coffee.

* City Meat Market, specializing in all kinds of meats at the "lowest living rates." In addition, the City Meat Market paid cash for hides.

* W.G. LaTourette, a dealer in hardware, stoves and tinware, plus Queensware, glassware and lamps.

* C.H. Rogers, a general merchandise dealer in dry goods, notions, hats, boots and shoes, as well as such groceries as coffees, teas, canned goods, ham and bacon.

* City Drug Store of McCook, which handled drugs and pharmaceuticals as well as varnishes, brushes, glass and a complete line of notions and toilet articles. S.L. Green, the druggist, pointed out that City Drug Store also handled wines and liquors, but stressed that these were "for medical purposes only."

* Hayden & Company, a general merchandise firm with a large stock of dry goods, boots, shoes, clothes, hats and caps. Hayden & Co. also offered a supply of ham, bacon, lard, flour and corn meal, as well as tobacco and cigars.

* H. Bryon, whose specialties included clocks, jewelry, silverware and spectacles. Bryon's slogan was, "Lord Byron Is Dead, But H. Byron Is Alive and Serving McCook Area Customers with the Largest Stock of Fine Goods West of Chicago and St. Louis."

*

Early day McCook also had two fine hotels, the Churchill House and the McCook Hotel; several thriving financial institutions, including the Bank of McCook and the Citizens Bank of McCook; a busy real estate agency, the Red Willow County Land Agency, managed by Starbuck and Francis; and a leisure time gathering place for men: Hoyt & Little's Billiard Parlor.

Much has changed over the past 125 years, although -- in other ways-- much is the same. We do have a different way of expressing ourselves today. That's shown by the comment of the Tribune editor, J. P. Israel, in the newspaper's Dec. 21, 1882 issue: "The snow disappeareth," he wrote.

Where's Editor Israel when we need him? We could use a little bit of that snow disappearance in 2007, too. It just shows -- that when it comes to the basics of life -- we share much in common with the preceding generations in the McCook area.