History Nebraska marker No. 106, “Spring Valley Park,” stands on US 20 about 0.1 mile east of 457th Avenue, southwest of Newport. It tells of the hay valley and Newport as a hay-shipping center from 1883, the prairie fire of 1904, and Vic and Maude Thompson, who about 1938 opened what is called Nebraska’s first roadside rest area here, and in 1966 dedicated a Centennial Memorial Forest and made their ranch a wildlife refuge free to all.