Huntley

History

Around 1900, a fund established by the wealthy European philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch to promote farming in the United States, sponsored about 50 families by supporting them in establishing a new community around what is now Huntley, south of the North Platte River, and west of the Nebraska border. The new residents came mostly from New York and Pennsylvania, as well as some from Europe. On July 6, 1906, six men from the community first filed claims for homesteads located in and around present-day Huntley. Most of the homesteaders and their families started out there living in sod dugouts that they built for use as dwellings. Among the challenges for the new residents was that the nearest water was about half a mile away in the Katzer Canal, and obtaining needed supplies was difficult, as the closest general store was in Mitchell, Nebraska, about to the east. Most of the settlers did not originally own horses, and walked to Mitchell to purchase supplies—carrying flour, sugar, beans, rice and salt back to their homesteads in knapsacks. About a year later, however, Baron de Hirsch's fund sent $500, a huge sum in those days, to each family. With this financial support from de Hersch, the settlers were then able to purchase horses, wagons, machinery, a milk cow, and tools. Before long, Huntley had a post office, a church, a grocery store, and a lumber yard. In 1908, de Hirsch sponsored another 40 or 45 more families coming to Wyoming, who settled in an area a few miles northeast of present-day the Huntley, known as the community of Allen, and a school and a synagogue were established.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.3 square mile (0.7 km), all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  615
• Western Meadowlark

  Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844 · Aves
  599
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  520
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  468
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  446
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  436
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  434
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  404

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2025-05-28
  9 km ENE of Glendo, Wyoming
• M 2.7 — 2021-09-12
  19 km ENE of Hartville, Wyoming
• M 2.6 — 2021-02-27
  13 km WNW of Crawford, Nebraska
• M 3.5 — 2019-09-27
  9 km SW of Manville, Wyoming
• M 3 — 2018-01-06
  7 km SW of Guernsey, Wyoming