Nuckolls County, Nebraska

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

County Seat: Nelson
Year Organized: 1860
Square Miles: 575

Court House:

150 S Main Street, PO Box 366
County Courthouse
Nelson, NE 68961-0366

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Nuckolls County is named in honor of the Nuckolls brothers. Lafayette Nuckolls, at age 19, became a member of the first Territorial Legislature while his brother, Stephen, was a pioneer Nebraska settler, businessman and banker.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Prior to being organized in 1871, the area which today is Nuckolls County was the scene of some of the most fierce Indian raids ever recorded in the south central portion of Nebraska. The largest raid, recorded on Aug. 7, 1864, is said to have stretched from Gage County to Denver. By 1867, the area was virtually abandoned. By the 1870s the situation had greatly improved and settlers once again began to inhabit the area.

The Little Blue River, which passes through the northeast corner of the county, led to much of the settlement that pre-dated the Indian raids. Mormons passed through this area on their way to Salt Lake City. Thus the Oregon Trail was created and in 1858 the government began using it for transporting supplies to frontier military posts. The following year the Pony Express began following this route.

E.S. Comstock is widely credited for the early development of this area. In 1856 Comstock established the first stage station at Oak, along the Little Blue River. Eventually a post office and a Chicago and Northwestern Railroad station were located in Oak. Following the Indian raids and subsequent return of the settlers, the area began to prosper.

About this same time the county's boundaries were established by the Legislature, although it was be another 11 years before the county was officially organized. The county's first election was held June 21, 1871 under a giant elm tree near the settlement of Oak. For the next several years, all county business would be conducted from the home of D.W. Montgomery, who had been elected surveyor. In 1874, as the population began to spread over the county, voters selected Nelson as the county seat. Nelson, which was surveyed only the year before, was located in the center of the county and was more accessible to settlers.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Hardy	village	Incorporated Area
- Lawrence	village	Incorporated Area
- Nelson (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Nora	village	Incorporated Area
- Oak	village	Incorporated Area
- Ruskin	village	Incorporated Area
- Superior	city	Incorporated Area

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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