Hebron: Nebraska's Porch Swing Captial

Taryn Vanderford recently got a chance to learn about the history behind a special roadside attraction in Hebron. She talked to Tim O'Callaghan who is one of the originators of the world's largest covered porch swing.

He says the porch swing got it's start back in 1984 when the Fourth of July committee decided to build something that would attract visitors to Hebron. There was talk about a porch swing at a festival in Kansas City, so the folks in Hebron decided to do that, and maybe do it better. Tim says took plans for the porch swing that were drawn up by his father to John Davis who was an engineer at Reinke Manufacturing in Deshler. Turns out, the porch swing hangs from a "super structure" from a Reinke pivot, and Davis designed it so it could be used in this application. A local welder, Lyle Arnold, helped weld it together.

The porch swing was originally in a park in southern Hebron, but it's moved to Roosevelt park in central Hebron. The porch swing can hold 18 adults or 24 kids comfortably.

"It's been used hundreds of times for photo ops, weddings, anniversaries, and it's been visits like that the whole time," Tim said. The porch was actually covered just two years ago, because someone in Louisiana built a porch swing bigger than the one in Hebron. But not to be out-done, the folks in Hebron covered the swing, and so that puts it back into a category all it's own.