“This will be a very intriguing monument.”- James Reinders

“The project is stupid” his wife proclaimed, but Jim Reinders was undeterred. An Alliance High School graduate, his career in the oil industry landed him in London, England for six years before retiring. In exploring England’s historical sites, the Salisbury Plains surrounding Stonehenge reminded him of western Nebraska.

His father passed away soon after Jim retired. As a memorial to his dad’s life, he decided to build a replica of Stonehenge on the family farm. Large rocks are rare and expensive in Nebraska, so Jim settled on vintage cars, which are lighter and easier to position. Jim prepared a map for 39 cars to exactly match the relative positions and sun alignment of the 39 stones at Stonehenge. 

In 1987, Jim enlisted the help of 35 family members to build the memorial. They arrived from around the country, driving or towing old cars for the project. That spring they created Carhenge, initially comprising an old ambulance, pick-up truck and 20 cars in time for a dedication ceremony on the Summer Solstice. Initially the cars were unpainted, but after pressure from the city, Jim spray-painted them gray.

I visited Carhenge on a Wednesday morning in January. The pale winter sun shone weakly through thin clouds, with the slow arrival of another winter storm gradually clouding out the sun. A cold wind whistled persistently across the prairie. There was no one else there. Fantastic, Bruin and I had it all to ourselves!

Jim expected Carhenge to be short-lived, but its quirkiness ensured that it endured. Over the years Carhenge expanded beyond the planned 39 cars mimicking Stonehenge, adding car sculptures to form a “Car Art Reserve.” Attracting around 100,000 visitors each year, Carhenge is a valued contributor to the region’s economy. Jim donated the land and the City of Alliance has managed Carhenge since 2013. 

Jim passed away in 2021, leaving behind a memorial not only to his father, but also to his own creativity and vision. Jim seems so happy in the historic photos of him at Carhenge; he must have been a fascinating person to know. He served as a sailor in the Navy, trained as an electrical engineer, worked in over 30 countries, loved games, sculpted, and with his running, cycling, and swimming, took part in the Senior Olympics until he was 80.

Last summer, the Carnagie Arts Center in Alliance launched the Carnegie Arts Festival. The Center invited eight internationally recognized muralists to decorate the cars at Carhenge and so expand awareness of the site and bring new visitors to the region. The plan is to re-paint the cars gray each spring and then invite a new group of artists to decorate the cars in the summer.

As an aside, a contemporary newspaper article on building Carhenge mentions that it was built on what was previously a wheat field. This piqued my interest, as I was fairly certain Carhenge is now surrounded by cornfields. A little digging revealed that Nebraska’s agriculture has shifted from wheat to corn over the last 50 years, driven by improvements in irrigation (center-pivot irrigation is now ubiquitous), development of high-yield corn hybrids, the renewable fuel mandate resulting in corn being processed into ethanol, and increased use of corn as cattle feed. The changing use of the landscape interests me. Maybe in the future Carhenge will be surrounded by wind turbines and solar panels …

I have learnt there are more “henges” out there. As a fan of quirky roadside attractions, I look forward to exploring them and learning about their creators.

“It will be something to gaze at, and hopefully someday it will have historical value.” – James Reinders