DeCastro Court - Family History Album Series

DeCastro Court open 52 years
by Edna DeCastro

Fifty-two years ago, 1936, Ab DeCastro and his wife Edna hired James S. Potter Sr. to build eight cabins and a filling station to accommodate the traveling public.

The structures were built of native lumber on land on the east edge of Lusk between U.S. Highway 20 and the Chicago and North Western Railway, a piece of property that had been the home of Frank and Annie DeCastro's family since 1917.

The whole acreage was used by Frank for a garden which he took care of himself and irrigated by means of a windmill and a water well on the place.

For a number of years Slim Tibbits operated the filling station while Ab worked as a mechanic at the Lusk Motor whose owners were Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey, and Edna took care of the cabins.

This venture, having proved profitable, Ab And Edna decided to add 10 more units to their enterprise in 1947.

This time, instead of housekeeping Cabins, a connected row of rooms in a more modern design was constructed, the contractor and builder being Jerry Hollon, who at that time owned the lumber yard.

Now they had to change the name from "DeCastro Cabins" to "DeCastro Court" in order to better describe the facilities.

Ab and Edna both came from families who settled in Niobrara County in early days, Frank and Annie having come from Boston, Mass., in 1896 to homestead north of Lusk. Harry and Neletta Howard, Edna's parents, arrived in Lusk as bride and groom in 1901, later settling in Manville where Harry worked as a jeweler and Neletta was postmaster for many years.

Three generations of DeCastros have lived on the place and Edna is still operating the Court which is one of the oldest continually owned and operated businesses under one management in the county.

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