Carhenge...Alliance, Nebraska

DATE:  October 8, 2015

SITE:  Carhenge

LOCATION:  2151 County Road 59, Alliance, Box Butte Co., Nebraska   69301

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

This was one of those stops that I knew would just be fun and it was only a few miles from our hotel so we got their relatively early..I mean early for us. I also knew the blog wouldn’t be overly deep or detailed, but I wanted a forum to get some great pictures out here.

The creator, Jim Reinders, lived and studied in England and while there fell in love with the beauty of Stonehenge.

 

When Reinders father passed away in 1982, the family thought Carhenge would be an appropriate tribute.

All the automobiles are placed to accurately reflect the real life Stonehenge. Initially, three foreign cars were used but quickly replaced so that only American cars are represented. The foreign cars were buried and a sign states “here lie three bones of foreign cars. They served our purpose while Detroit slept. Now Detroit is awake and America’s great!”

A few years after being erected, Reinders painted the cars grey to match Stonehenge and by 1990, had donated the area to a group called “Friends of Carhenge”.

In 2009, Carhenge was voted the 2^nd wackiest attraction in America by TripAdvisor, only to lose the top spot to a toilet museum in Texas.

The town, Alliance, initially hated it but came to admire the site that gave their little town a name and brought people to the area. Let me tell you…the area could use more people coming in and spending.

In 2013, from waning interest and mounting costs, the “Friends of Carhenge” approached the city with a partnership idea where they would give the monument and the surrounding 10 acres as a gift and they would assist the city in overseeing the maintenance and growth.

A gift shop was added…there’s a surprise, along with a “car art” park for local artists. I read somewhere that there might be an RV park going in near it.

They’ve had visitors from all 50 states and at least 15 countries…I know of at least 2 visitors that enjoyed their short stop to check it out. It’s just fun!

Dirk was so inspired by his surroundings, he stopped right then and there and just HAD to record his thoughts. Please enjoy Dirk’s Roadside Revelation inspired by Carhenge.

Side note: A similar attraction called “Autohenge” was built a year before Carhenge in Canada but the two didn’t know about the other. Autohenge has since been torn down.