#carhenge

Happy 3 Year Anniversary to Wayward Son by @rainbowrowell

I would indeed, friendo! Thank that little bird, because Today You Learned about Nebraska's Carhenge!

Alright, I suppose it's not technically an 'ancient' monument, but it's a replica of one.

Built by Jim Reinders near Alliance, Nebraska, and dedicated at the 1987 summer solstice, it was designed to be an exact copy of Stonehenge, just... you know, with cars! Reinders used to live in England, you see, and moved to the US after his father died. Before he moved, though, he studied Stonehenge quite a lot.

Carhenge was actually made as a tribute to Reinders's father, and the family helped set up the 38 cars on site into their current configuration. At first, the people of Alliance didn't like the sculpture (if that's what we call it?), but they came around in time, and now there are more car sculptures around the site, and even a visitor's center with a gift shop.

Admission's free, by the way, though they like donations. There's also a car visitors can sign.

In August of 2017, during the solar eclipse, many went out to Carhenge to watch the eclipse, including Nebraska's governor. Which is cool, considering that Reinders admitted that he didn't think or know about the eclipse and using the site for it when he designed the place.