Union Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Union Area Cameras

Village · Cass County · Population 195 (2020 census) · ZIP 68455 · Founded 1890 · Peak population 364 (1940)

About Union

Union is a village of 195 in southeastern Cass County, where US 34 from the west joins US 75, about 13 miles south of Plattsmouth and 4 miles east-southeast of Nehawka.

History

Settlers came to the area from 1855, and a settlement called Stringtown grew up east of Weeping Water Creek. The Missouri Pacific surveyed a Nebraska City–Lincoln line in 1887 and in 1890 laid track north toward Omaha; the town was laid out in 1890 at the junction, which gave it its name, though some say it honors the federal Union. The Pleasant Grove post office moved to the rail center in 1888, and the county organized the village in 1892.

The Union Jail, built in 1916 as the village's only municipal building, is on the National Register. The Old Settlers Picnic has been held since 1889, and Union Daze comes each summer. Union's school became part of the Nebraska City system in 1956. The population peaked at 364 in 1940.

Highways and trails through Union

Route	One way	Other way
US 34 / US 75Join at Union (66th St.)	North together past Murray to Plattsmouth (about 13 mi)	US 34 west to Nehawka, Avoca and Elmwood; US 75 south to Nebraska City

Nearby towns

Factoryville	about 2.6 mi west-southwest	County roads
Nehawka	about 3.8 mi west-northwest	US 34
Murray	about 7 mi north	US 34/75
Avoca	about 10 mi west	US 34
Rock Bluff	about 9 mi north-northeast	County roads
Nebraska City	about 10 mi south-southeast	US 75
Dunbar	about 11 mi south-southwest	County roads
Weeping Water	about 12 mi west-northwest	US 34
Plattsmouth	about 13 mi north	US 34/75

Things to see

Union Jail, 1st and Rock Sts. (1916; National Register) · the ball field at 1st and C Sts. · Union JunKtion antiques, 115 W. Main St. · AerieRock Rock Shop, 306 Main St. · Lake Wa-Con-Da, an 89-acre private lake community about 4 mi away · Nehawka and the Nehawka Flint Quarries marker, about 4 mi west-northwest · the Factoryville site, about 2.6 mi west-southwest

Schools and health care

Schools: No school in Union; its district merged into the Nebraska City schools in 1956

Health care: No hospital in Union; the nearest is in Nebraska City

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); History Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Cass County and village websites; school district, library and museum websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.