Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
“The Cahow Barber Shop is located in Chapman, Nebraska. It is a false-front building of frame construction with a gable roof and linteled door and window hoods, built in 1889.”
Wikipedia article Cahow Barber Shop, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 8 National Register listings published here for Merrick County · listed in 1984 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
The chapter on Chapman Township in A History of Merrick County, Nebraska: From "the Beginning" to 1895, published 1898 names Chapman. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
When the Union Pacific, in 1866, staked out its towns eleven miles apart along its road, the future station of Chapman had least reason of all the stations along th.e road to claim for itself the name of "town." Shoemaker's Point was abandoned, and yet the truth is hardly told when we say that it was abandoned that the village of Chapman might come into existence. From Central City to Grand Island was practically a townless tract, and even the need of a town between them was at that time unfelt.
Passage source: A History of Merrick County, Nebraska: From "the Beginning" to 1895, published 1898.
But the deciee of the railroad, that there should be a station here, could not long be disobeyed, and in 1871 the first business building of Chapman was erected by Messrs. L. Reed and C. A. Leake and occu¬ pied by them for a general trading store. The first real store was opened in 1873 by Mr. J. I. Walker and sold by him to Mr. W. H. Morris in 1877. The real importance of the town dates from 1878, when the Chapman bridge across the Platte was completed, opening up the trade of the northern part of Hamilton County for the benefit of the new town. During this year the town attained to almost its present size, and would probably be today a fair rival of tb#* county seat had not the coming of the Burlington branch into Hamilton County a short time after taken away a large portion of the new territory after which it was reaching.
Passage source: A History of Merrick County, Nebraska: From "the Beginning" to 1895, published 1898.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Chapman Township - 1,425 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Cahow Barber Shop between 2001 and 2018, burning about 52 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 8 September 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 22 September 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 3 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 18 June 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 11 June 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 8 May 2010 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 1 May 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chapman, the town this property stands in, in 64 storm reports between 1994 and 2022: 42 hail, 17 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | $500,000 | Emergency management reported several pivots were flipped over and mangled north of Chapman. At a convenience store in Chapman, a metal light pole was blown down, and a large metal ice chest was moved away from the main building into the parking lot. |
| July 2022 | Tornado (EF1) | Chapman | $250,000 | This EF1 tornado tracked nearly 10 miles through rural portions of far east central Hall and far southwestern Merrick counties during the very early morning hours of Monday, July 4th. The maximum wind speed was estimated to be 110 MPH, based on the combination of damage to trees, some buildings and homes, and power poles. The tornado was estimated to be 200 yards wide at its widest point.||This tornado first touched down in a rural area four miles south of downtown Grand Island and quickly gained strength. It entered Merrick County around 12:56 a.m. CDT near the intersection of Gunbarrel and Stolley Park Roads, persisting for nearly six more miles before lifting at 1:10 a.m. CDT approximately five miles southwest of Chapman (near the intersection of 5th and D Roads). Along its total path, it damaged over a half-dozen homes, including blown out windows, shingle and siding damage, and at least one home had part of its roof decking torn off (fortunately no injuries were reported). Other outbuildings and grain bins were damaged or destroyed, including a barn in Merrick County that was over 100 years old. Several power poles were snapped, along with trees and damage to crops. The damage pattern evident in corn fields had a distinct herringbone pattern...consistent with a tornadic wind field. ||This tornado formed in a trailing area of stratiform rainfall not usually conducive for tornadic development. The combination of a very moist, unstable airmass and very favorable wind shear for the time of day were key in the formation of the low-topped supercell which spawned the tornado. |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | $250,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in some irrigation pivot damage in the area. Wind was accompanied by half dollar size hail. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Chapman | $150,000 | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Hail | Chapman | $125,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Chapman | $100,000 | A pickup was swept off of worms road in western Merrick County. Most of the residents in Archer woke to significant flooding around 0300CST June 8th and began sandbagging. Cars were floating in Archer. Numerous roads were washed out across western Merrick County. |
| April 2005 | Hail | Chapman | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Chapman | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Hail | Chapman | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Chapman | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Chapman | $30,000 | no account filed |
| September 1997 | Hail | Chapman | $30,000 | no account filed |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | $25,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH resulted in some tree damage and a flag pole being snapped. |
| October 2001 | Tornado (F1) | Chapman | $25,000 | Tornado entered Merrick County from Hamilton County. |
| May 2019 | Hail | Chapman | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Chapman | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Chapman | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Chapman | $25,000 | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Hail | Chapman | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Chapman | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Chapman | $15,000 | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Chapman | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Chapman | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Chapman | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | A wind gust of 66 MPH was recorded by a mesonet station located two miles southwest of Chapman. |
| May 2016 | Hail | Chapman | - | Hail was accompanied by 60 MPH wind gusts. |
| July 2016 | Hail | Chapman | - | Penny to quarter size hail was reported on the Hall and Merrick County line. |
| June 2015 | Flood | Chapman | - | Water covered parts of Bismarck Road, near the Hall county line. |
| April 2013 | Hail | Chapman | - | Quarter size hail covered the ground. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 65 MPH. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Chapman | - | Pea to nickel size hail and heavy rain was reported. |
| May 1994 | Hail | Chapman | - | Thunderstorm winds knocked down trees south of Chapman. Golf ball-size hail was also reported. |
| May 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | Thunderstorm winds knocked down trees south of Chapman. Golf ball-size hail was also reported. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| September 2019 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| July 2015 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| September 2013 | Flood | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapman | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Nelson Farm | 6.8 miles | 2009 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 84002493 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Merrick County | All 8 listed properties in this county. |
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