The town was originally named Grand Lake. When the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad came to Grand Lake in 1888, the railroad superintendent, G.W. Holdrege, wanted to change it to a simple one-word name closer to the beginning of the alphabet, which he thought would be better for business. He picked "Alliance" for the new name of the town. It was incorporated as a city in 1891.
Many Volga German families moved to Alliance to work for the railroad.
The following Volga German families are known to have settled in and around Alliance:
Bangert
Bastron / Bostron
Batt
Bauer
Becker
Behm
Benzel
Brehm
Debus from Kukkus
Ebel
Eberly
Fiebig
Fritzler from Grimm
Gantz
Hein from Frank
Herbel from Dreispitz
Her(r)man(n) from Liebental
Kammerzell from Frank
Kautz from Merkel
Koch
Kraft
Krenzer
Leever from Kraft
Lehl from Norka
Libsack
Lohmeyer
Martin
Meisinger from Neu-Messer
Miller
Mohrland from Walter
Nuss
Pauli / Pauly from Norka
Pfannenstiel from Ober-Monjou
Reiber from Kolb
Reisig
Richmeier from Herzog
Romick from Grimm
Schlauger from Norka
Schlotthauer from Huck
Schmer from Norka
Schnell from Norka
Schoeneman from Norka
Schwindt from Norka
Specht
Uhrich from Frank
Vogel
Wacker / Walker from Norka
Weitzel from Frank
Zitterkopf from Huck
- Alliance (Greenwood) Cemetery (findagrave.com)
Alliance, Nebraska (Wikipedia)