Mars Campground, Ghost Town Featured in New York Times

Courtesy New York Times

Ron Carlson, who grew up in Mars, looks over an old pig barn.

New York Times reporter Mitch Smith recently spent a day at Mars, a ghost town in northern Antelope County. Thanks to efforts of D.R. Haskin and others, the historic area is being remembered.

While at Mars, which is located north of Royal, Smith interviewed Haskin, Chance Jacobsen and Ron Carlson. Haskin owns the property being excavated for historical purposes and has authored several books on the people of Mars, including his great-grandfather, Samuel Haskin, who founded the once thriving community.  

Jacobsen is an eighth-grader at Plainview Public School and works at Mars Campground. Carlson, who is Jacobsen's grandfather, now lives near Norfolk but was raised at Mars and dedicates much of his time to the area.

---

Mr. Haskin, however, has made it his mission to preserve his ancestors’ legacy by operating a campsite in the former town’s park, writing historical fiction novels about the settlement and excavating the dugout home.

The hope, Mr. Haskin said, is to create a written record and then a living re-creation of Mars, a place that he believes can offer lessons of value far beyond these cornfields and dusty roads.

“There were sacrifices. There was hardship,” Mr. Haskin said. “All of us living in the state of Nebraska owe our lives to the early pioneers.”

---

Read the New York Times article and watch the video