Carhenge
A replica of Stonehenge built from 39 American cars at a family reunion in 1987, as a memorial to the builder's father. The state tried to classify it as a junkyard, and the town that wanted it removed now owns it.
Field Guide Entry
A family reunion, June 1987
Jim Reinders had lived in England and studied Stonehenge closely. When his family gathered on the Nebraska farm where his father had lived, he put them to work building a copy of it out of cars, matching the original's proportions in a circle roughly 96 feet across. Thirty-nine vehicles went into it, from 1950s Chevrolets to a 1962 Cadillac, most of them pulled off local farms and out of dumps, all of them sprayed gray.
It was a memorial to his father, on his father's land.
The town wanted it gone
Alliance largely hated it. The Nebraska Department of Roads moved to classify the site as a junkyard, which would have required it to be fenced. One resident building a house across the road had the house constructed at an angle so that she would not have to look at it.
Reinders obtained the permits and the approvals and it stayed. When he moved out of state he gave the ten acres to the Friends of Carhenge, a local group formed to look after it. On October 1, 2013, the Friends handed it to the City of Alliance.
The town that tried to have it fenced as a junkyard now owns it and maintains it as its principal attraction.
Visiting Information
Carhenge is free to visit 365 days a year from dawn to dusk, according to its official visitor information. The Pit Stop Gift Shop operates seasonally from May through September; check its current schedule separately.
The site is north of Alliance on Highway 87. Its field also contains the Car Art Reserve, a collection of vehicle sculptures. Plan a daylight visit and use Alliance for food and lodging. Do not assume that an ungated site allows visits after closing.
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