Pawnee County, Nebraska

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

County Seat: Pawnee City
Year Organized: 1854
Square Miles: 432

Court House:

625 6th Street, P.O. Box 431
County Courthouse
Pawnee City, NE 68420-0431

Etymology - Origin of County Name

As one would conclude, Pawnee County and the county seat of Pawnee City were both named after the Pawnee Indians who inhabited the area. According to history, Turkey Creek, near where Pawnee City is located, was a popular campsite for the tribe.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

The county boundaries were defined by the Legislature in 1855, redefined the following year, and reapproved in 1862. The first election was held in 1856 and it was decided that Pawnee City would serve as the seat of the government. The decision was made to build a courthouse, but due to continuous delays and a lack of funds, the two-story structure was never completed. Deteriorated to the point where it could not be repaired, the building was eventually leveled by strong winds in 1860.

Nine years latter, efforts were renewed to build a permanent structure and a two-story limestone building was completed at a cost of just over $15,000. Despite some remodeling and renovation projects, the courthouse proved to be too small. In 1911, $85,000 in bonds were approved for the construction of the present courthouse. Once again made of limestone and brick, the building features a decorative relief sculpture over the building's main entrance.

The earliest settlers of record to make a claim in this area were from Ohio. When they found no land available in Missouri, Christian Bobst, Robert Turner, Jacob Adams and Robert Archer crossed over into the Nebraska Territory and settled along the south forth of the Nemaha River, located in the far southeast corner of the county. The four settlers named the area Cincinnati, in honor of the city in their native Ohio. The area, however, would never progress to their expectations and eventually ceased to exist as a settlement.

In more modern times, the advancement of farming throughout the area and the coming of the rail lines helped Pawnee County established itself. Today, the rolling green prairie that greeted the first settlers has given way to prosperous family farming operations.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Burchard	village	Incorporated Area
- Du Bois	village	Incorporated Area
- Lewiston	village	Incorporated Area
- Pawnee City (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Steinauer	village	Incorporated Area
- Table Rock	village	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."