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Jim Reinders created Carhenge, a unique tribute to his late father, with a budget of around $10,000 and the help of a family reunion, according to the Alliance Times-Herald.
A petroleum engineer by profession, Reinders had spent time in England and developed an appreciation for Stonehenge. After his father’s passing in 1982, he decided to build a homage to the ancient monument on the family’s Nebraska property.
Due to a scarcity of appropriate stone in the area, Reinders opted to use cars instead. “Cars are more available in this area and they are shaped similar to the stones in England,” he explained to the Alliance Times-Herald.
The presence of wheels also made the transportation and positioning of the cars much easier, according to Kevin Howard of the Alliance Visitors Bureau, who spoke with NPR.
In the summer of 1987, about 35 family members gathered with old vehicles for a reunion and construction project. They completed the installation in roughly a week. “Jim says it took a lot of blood, sweat and beers,” Howard recalled to NPR.
Carhenge consists of 39 cars-matching the number of stones at Stonehenge-arranged in a circle approximately 96 feet in diameter. The cars are painted gray and some are positioned upright, reaching heights of 15 to 17 feet, as noted by Roadtrippers. The site’s dedication ceremony took place on the summer solstice and featured speeches, poetry, and a theatrical play.
Not everyone in the local community initially embraced the idea. “There were a lot of naysayers,” said Dan Reinders, Jim’s nephew, in an interview with the Plainsman. Over time, however, Carhenge grew into something far beyond Jim Reinders’ original vision.
Carhenge also faced challenges. In 2011, the nonprofit Friends of Carhenge put the site up for sale at $300,000 due to financial constraints hindering its expansion, Fox News reported. Two years later, in 2013, ownership was transferred to the city of Alliance, according to the Alliance Times-Herald.
A notable moment in Carhenge’s history came on August 21, 2017, when Alliance lay directly in the path of totality during the total solar eclipse. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts chose Carhenge as his viewing spot, reported by the Associated Press.
Approximately 4,000 people gathered to witness the event alongside him, including Jim Reinders himself. Since then, the town has been recognized as one of the premier locations to experience the Great American Eclipse.
Jim Reinders passed away in October 2021 at age 94. His daughter, Janice McArdle, fondly recalled the eclipse event at Carhenge, saying, “Carhenge was a wonderful place to watch the eclipse.” In that way, she honored her father just as he had honored his own father through the creation of Carhenge.