Living in the North Platte River valley in the early 1930s was a productive and happy time for the 110 residents of old Lemoyne. The North Platte River flowed serenely south of the town site. Highway 26 passed through the center of town and on east to Ogallala.

People went about their daily business in this little trading center. After picking up the mail from the train depot, the mailman delivered letters and packages to folks living north in the Sandhills. Customers dropped by Adams Bank to do a little banking.

Farmers drove into town to buy lumber, eat at the café or stop and catch up on news at the hotel. Children attending 6th-10th grades played in the schoolyard, while their parents took their vehicles to be serviced at the Ford garage. On Sundays, the close-knit members of the community attended the Presbyterian Church service.

But like the fabled residents of the Lost Continent of Atlantis, all was about to change.

A dam was to be built about 10 miles east of Lemoyne on the North Platte River. Acres of water would cover the peaceful, idyllic Platte River valley and the town of old Lemoyne would be lost forever.
Although the townspeople were unhappy with the upcoming flood, they knew it could not be prevented. A decision was made to move the town of Lemoyne up above the valley floor.

Before the dam could be built, one of the first things that needed to take place was the removal of the railroad tracks. Karl Baumann, a young man who had moved to Lemoyne from Kansas, recalls, “We had an old tractor with a plow hitched on behind. Someone drove the tractor down the railroad line, pulling up the ties with the plow. We loaded them on a truck and hauled them two miles north of the valley.”

Later, as work progressed on the dam, families gathered their belongings and prepared to move out of Lemoyne. Three families living in boxcars had to be relocated. Many families moved to Ogallala, to the new Lemoyne, or out of the area.

As the time for the big move grew closer, community members gathered one last time at the hotel for a picnic. Cora Baumann, who was born in old Lemoyne, said, “This was not a happy time, as we all knew it was the last time we would be together.”
Large house moving equipment was brought in and

the houses began slowly moving uphill to their new location. “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” printed a cartoon of the buildings walking up the hillside.

Several of the homes were moved to Ogallala, including the old Bullock house, which is now Armstrong Gas Station in the north part of Ogallala. Keystone is the site of the old railroad section house. Unfortunately, the railroad depot was struck by lightening after being moved to Martin. The Sportsman Complex at Martin Bay is the old depot from Sargent, Neb.

The Baumann’s moved away from Lemoyne for a while, but later returned to build a home on a bluff overlooking old Lemoyne. The Samuelson’s were the last family to move out. Today their family operates a store and post office on Highway 92 at the new Lemoyne.

By 1940, all that remained of Lemoyne were a few foundations. In 1941, Kingsley Dam was completed, and by 1946, the North Platte River had completely filled the valley. A bridge that had been built across the North Platte River north of Ogallala in 1937 became another casualty of the flooding of the valley.
Ten years later, in 1956, the lake reached its lowest level since the dam had been built. The Baumann’s and their children were able to walk out to the site of old Lemoyne. Among the foundations left when the houses were moved they discovered an old cast iron water pump that still worked.

This year, foundations from the lost city of Lemoyne may once again rise up from the murky depths of the lake. Former residents of old Lemoyne and visitors to the lake would then be able to revisit the site of their beloved town, “Old Lemoyne.”