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Nebraska State...
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Nebraska Counties
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Nebraska Counties
There is 93 counties in state of Nebraska. |
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Red Willow County, Nebraska
Red Willow County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: McCook
Year Organized: 1873
Square Miles: 717
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Court House: 502 Norris Avenue
County Courthouse
McCook, NE 69001-2006
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
Red Willow County received its name from Red Willow Creek,
which runs through this area of Southwest Nebraska. It has been reported,
however, that the name is actually a mistranslation of the Dakota Indian name "Chanshasha
Wakpala," which literally means Red Dogwood Creek. The Dakotans referred to the
creek as such because of an abundance of the red dogwood shrub that grew along
the creek banks.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
History
Before this area would become a
county, an exploration company was formed in Nebraska City for the express
purpose of establishing a settlement somewhere in the Republican River Valley.
In 1871 the party decided on an area at the mouth of the Red Willow Creek. A
surveyor was hired to lay out a town patterned after Lincoln, with large, wide
streets.
The county was officially organized in 1873. That same year the town of
Indianola was laid out along Coon Creek. Indianola and Red Willow each wanted to
secure the greatest number of settlers and become the county seat. Following an
aggressive campaign, the Indianola ticket was victorious over the Red Willow
ticket.
The election results were quickly contested by Red Willow supporters and the
case went before a justice of the peace in neighboring Furnas County. Indianola
supporters would not recognize the justice's authority and refused to appear.
The justice declared the election was illegal and Red Willow immediately sought
control of the county. Red Willow supporters went to Indianola and took the
county records and county seal by force. Tempers eventually subsided and the
records were returned to Indianola, which remained the county seat until it was
moved to McCook in 1896.
The residents of McCook constructed a courthouse that was "sufficient in all
respects at the time for the demands of the county." Continued growth and
development in the area forced the county to raze the building in 1926 and
construct the current courthouse. In 1990 an extensive remodeling project was
set into motion and the building was rededicated by county officials last year.
Neighboring Counties:
Cities and Towns:
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- Bartley |
village |
Incorporated Area |
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- Danbury |
village |
Incorporated Area |
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- Indianola |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Lebanon |
village |
Incorporated Area |
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- McCook
(County Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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Online High Schools
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County Resource Guide
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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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