Gage County, Nebraska

Gage County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Beatrice
Year Organized: 1855
Square Miles: 855

Court House:

612 Grant Street, P.O. Box 429
County Courthouse
Beatrice, NE 68310-0429

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Namedin honor of William D. Gage, a Methodist minister who served as chaplain of the Legislature at the time the county was established.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Gage County is said to have had the country's first homestead entered under the US Homestead Act of 1862. According to historical records, Daniel Freeman's claim was recorded on Jan. 1, 1863, the day the act became effective. Freeman's claim, which was located along Cub Creek about four miles west of Beatrice, was recorded as claim 1 on page 1 in volume 1 of the records of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C.

Some have disputed that Freeman could have filed the nation's first claim as there were more than 100 land districts that were opened simultaneously throughout the country. But to this day the honor remains with Freeman and the county in which he homesteaded.

Gage County was established by the Territorial Legislature on March 15, 1855. It was named in honor of William D. Gage, a Methodist minister who served as chaplain of the Legislature at the time the county was established. In addition to having the county named after him, Gage was appointed as one of the commissioners who would be responsible for locating the county seat.

The county would be officially organized in 1857. Within a year the townsite of Beatrice was incorporated in the center of the county and in 1859 it was confirmed as the county seat.

The county's first courthouse was built in 1870, but within 15 years the building had become too dangerous and county offices were moved to a nearby bank building. In 1891 the present Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse was built. Its grand design, once lauded by Laura Ingalls Wilder, was destined to become a landmark. In 1960, however, that nearly changed when a fire destroyed much of the building's interior. Voters rejected a proposal to build a new courthouse. Rather, they favored restoring the 69-year-old building. It turned out to be a wise decision, as the restored building was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The following year the 100th anniversary of the courthouse was commemorated with a rededication ceremony.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Adams	village	Incorporated Area
- Barneston	village	Incorporated Area
- Beatrice (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Blakely	township
- Blue Springs	city	Incorporated Area
- Blue Springs-Wymore	township
- Clatonia	village	Incorporated Area
- Cortland	village	Incorporated Area
- Filley	village	Incorporated Area
- Glenwood	township
- Highland	township
- Holt	township
- Hooker	township
- Island Grove	township
- Liberty	village	Incorporated Area
- Logan	township
- Odell	village	Incorporated Area
- Paddock	township
- Pickrell	village	Incorporated Area
- Riverside	township
- Rockford	township
- Sicily	township
- Virginia	village	Incorporated Area
- Wymore	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."