Odessa Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Unincorporated community · Buffalo County · Population 132 (2020 census) · ZIP 68861

About Odessa

Odessa is a census-designated place of 132 people (2020) in Odessa Township, Buffalo County, on the Union Pacific about 9 miles west of Kearney. I-80 Exit 263 is the Odessa interchange, where Union Pacific State Recreation Area has fishing and camping. Odessa is on Central Time.

History

The place began as a Union Pacific side-track called Stevenson’s Siding (1866–71) and was then known as Crowellton, after the twins Dan A. and D. Allen Crowell, who homesteaded here in 1871. The Crowellton post office opened on December 6, 1872, and was renamed Odessa on February 29, 1876. In 1882 Andreas described it as “a railroad stopping place with only a side-track.”

Highways and trails through Odessa

Route	One way	Other way
I-80Exit 263 (Odessa)	West to Elm Creek	East to Kearney

Nearby towns

Elm Creek	about 6 mi west	US 30
Riverdale	about 7 mi northeast	County roads
Kearney	about 9 mi east	US 30
Amherst	about 9 mi north	County roads
Overton	about 15 mi west	US 30

Things to see

Union Pacific State Recreation Area at I-80 Exit 263 · East Odessa WMA

Health care

Hospitals: CHI Health Good Samaritan and Kearney Regional Medical Center, Kearney, about 9 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Bassett, History of Buffalo County and Its People (1916); Who’s Who in Nebraska (1940); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); NEGenWeb Buffalo County; History Nebraska and its markers; National Register; Buffalo County; City of Kearney; Visit Kearney; Nebraska Game and Parks; Central Platte NRD; Audubon Rowe Sanctuary; Kearney Regional Airport; school districts. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.