The Ghost Town that Refuses to Die and the Man Behind it

MARS, NE — It’s a place out of this world and also out of sight. Nestled in a valley west of Royal sits Mars. It’s surrounded by rolling hills, roaming cattle and plenty of history. No one knows more about this town than D.R. Haskin, "History is based on the perspective of the person who writes it.” Haskin is the great-great-grandson of Samuel Haskins, the founder of Mars. Haskin has been his family’s historian for over 20 years, preserving his ancestors memories and heritage. He also writes historical fiction novels based off Samuel Haskin's diary. “His idea was to have community here. He wanted a community so he decided to settle here, it reminded him of home. If these hills could talk, what stories would they tell?" To learn more we took a drive down memory lane with Haskin’s books. Mars was founded in 1879, but was first known as Jessup. A few years later in 1885, the town lost its post office and only means of communication with the outside world. A year later Samuel was able to get a new post office and renamed the town Mars, for the reason that six miles west, was the town, Venus. Much like the exploration of the planet, Haskin is still discovering parts of Mars. "The whole story needed to be pieced together because different descendants had different parts of the story…” While some buildings have been swallowed back into the earth, Haskin can see parts of the past that guests may not. Here’s the thing about Mars, it’s not on a map. That's because it’s not a real town - at least not anymore, because it’s a ghost town. "I suppose there is about 11 or 12 people here today in Mars." Though Mars represented hope and a community for settlers, it failed to grow. Haskin's says the town never reached more than 100 people. According to Haskin, the death of the town allowed the survival of surrounding towns. “It opened up this whole valley of settlement. If that had not happened, I don’t know if Royal would be there or Orchard. I don’t know if some of these communities would be like the are today…." While parts of Mars remain buried, Haskin isn’t ready to give up or forget his roots.