Merrick County, Nebraska

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

County Seat: Central City
Year Organized: 1858
Square Miles: 485

Court House:

1510 18th Street, P.O. Box 27
County Courthouse
Central City, NE 68826-0027

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Namedin honor of Elvira Merrick, wife of territorial legislator Henry W. DePuy of Dodge County.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Merrick County could literally be called a "panhandle" county, but not because of Nebraskans' general reference to the 11 counties which are located in the state's Panhandle region. Rather, a series of events at the time Merrick County's boundaries were created resulted in the county having narrow "panhandles" on both the northwest and northeast corners.

When the Legislature laid out the county in 1858, the northern boundary was a straight line. The preceding year a reservation had been established for the Pawnee tribe and Merrick County took in about half the reservation. As the Pawnee tribe gradually moved to Oklahoma, the Legislature adopted an act to create Nance County from the southern 180 square miles of reservation, all of which were located within Merrick County. Since the Pawnees had wanted both banks of the Loup River included in their reservation, the boundary line was jogged to roughly parallel the Platte River. Thus, Merrick County today has a jagged northern boundary, with narrow "panhandles" on both corners.

The county's history dates back to the pioneers who were headed west along the Oxbow Trail. The Western State Company used this route to carry mail between Omaha and Fort Kearny. It established a station about three miles southwest of what today is Central City. Known as "Lone Tree Station" because of a lone cottonwood tree, it became a welcome resting point for weary travelers.

When Merrick County was established, it was named in honor of Elvira Merrick, wife of territorial legislator Henry W. DePuy of Dodge County. At the same time, a settlement name Elvira was named the county seat. The advancement of the railroad contributed much to the development of Central City, a town given this name because it was centrally located in the agriculture region of the state. With its development, Central City became the county seat and eventually Elvira ceased to exist.

Before a courthouse was built in the 1870s, county offices were housed in the residences of various officials.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Central	township
- Central City (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Chapman	village	Incorporated Area
- Clarks	village	Incorporated Area
- Clarksville	township
- Lone Tree	township
- Loup	township
- Midland	township
- Palmer	village	Incorporated Area
- Prairie Creek	township
- Prairie Island	township
- Silver Creek	village	Incorporated Area
- Vieregg	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our 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."

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