Anselmo Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Custer County · Population 108 (2020 census) · ZIP 68813 · Founded 1886 · Peak population 472 (1930)

About Anselmo

Anselmo is a village of 108 people (2020) at the southeastern edge of the Sandhills in northwestern Custer County, at about 2,605 feet; the 100th meridian lies just west. NE 2 runs through town, southeast to Merna and Broken Bow and northwest to Dunning, where it meets NE 91, and Spur S-21A runs east on Smith Avenue to Victoria Springs State Recreation Area, about 6 miles away. The twin towers of St. Anselm’s Catholic Church can be seen for miles. Schools are in Merna. Anselmo is on Central Time.

History

The first settler came in 1879, when cattle herds of some 20,000 head still grazed the area, and most of the land was claimed by 1886. That year the Burlington built through, and on November 20, 1886, Anselmo B. Smith, an engineer for the railroad’s Lincoln Land Company, platted the town and gave it his first name; it served as a water, coal and switching stop. Anselmo grew to 472 people by 1930, with a school and Methodist and Catholic churches. Computer pioneer Jay Wright Forrester was born on July 14, 1918, and grew up on his family’s cattle ranch near Anselmo, where as a boy he built a wind-driven electric plant from old car parts; at MIT he led the Whirlwind computer project, co-invented magnetic-core memory and founded the field of system dynamics.

Highways and trails through Anselmo

Route	One way	Other way
NE 2Through the village	Southeast to Merna and Broken Bow	Northwest to Dunning and NE 91
Spur S-21AEast on Smith Ave.	East to Victoria Springs SRA	Ends at NE 2

Nearby towns

New Helena	about 6 mi east	Spur S-21A
Milburn	about 10 mi northeast	County roads
Merna	about 11 mi south-southeast	NE 2
Lillian	about 12 mi east	County roads
Gates	about 12 mi east	County roads
Broken Bow	about 19 mi southeast	NE 2
Dunning	about 19 mi northwest	NE 2
Arnold	about 22 mi southwest	County roads and NE 92
Brewster	about 22 mi north	County roads
Callaway	about 23 mi south	County roads
Halsey	about 29 mi northwest	NE 2

Things to see

St. Anselm’s Catholic Church, the “Cathedral of the Sandhills,” 1000 W. Rolla Ave.: a 1928–29 Gothic Revival church 112 feet tall, with its rectory and the 1905 first church as parish hall (National Register) · the Anselmo historical marker (No. 571) and the Anselmo Veterans Memorial on E. Smith Ave. · the historic sod house and jail on Main St. · Victoria Springs State Recreation Area, about 6 miles east: a spring-fed lake, cabins and camping · the Big Sky Jubilee in late June

Schools and health care

Schools: No school in the village; Anselmo-Merna Public Schools, 750 N. Conway St., Merna, (308) 643-2224

Health care: Nearest hospital: Jennie M. Melham Memorial Medical Center, 145 Memorial Dr., Broken Bow, (308) 872-4100, about 19 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; NEGenWeb Custer County (place names); Custer County Tourism; Custer County Historical Society; History Nebraska (markers); National Register listings; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska DHHS hospital and clinic rosters; Nebraska 211; SchoolDigger; Nebraska Secretary of State; City of Broken Bow; Village of Callaway; VisitNebraska; NEBRASKAland; Geological Society of America abstracts; KRVN, KNOP, KOLN 10/11 and Custer County Chief reports. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.