Benkelman Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Benkelman Area Cameras

City · Dundy County · County seat · Population 821 (2020 census) · ZIP 69021 · Founded 1880 · Peak population 1,512 (1950)

About Benkelman

Benkelman is a city of 821 and the seat of Dundy County, on the Republican River just below the mouth of the South Fork, where US 34 and NE 61 run together through town. It has the county hospital, the Dundy County-Stratton schools, the county library and museum, and a golf course; like the rest of the county, it is on Mountain Time.

History

Settlers came to the forks of the Republican in January 1880 and called the place Collinsville, for settler Moses Collins; its post office opened that December. When the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad built its depot in the spring of 1882, it renamed the town for J. G. Benkelman, a stock raiser and the line's largest cattle shipper; the post office took the new name in 1885. Benkelman was the only town when the county organized in 1884 and became its seat. In 1888 the new towns of Max, Ives, Haigler, Allston and Neel challenged it, but Benkelman kept the seat after its own voters agreed to pay for a courthouse on the square the Lincoln Land Company had given.

By 1890 Benkelman had about 700 people, two banks, two hotels and two newspapers. The present courthouse, designed by A. T. Simmons of Bloomington, Illinois, was finished in September 1921, and Ed and Marie Zorn opened the Zorn Theatre in 1928. In the flood of May 31, 1935, the Republican rose 10 feet and eight members of the James Pettit family drowned in a farmhouse on the river bottom. The city reached its largest population, 1,512, in 1950. Actor Ward Bond was born here in 1903 and lived here until 1919; Gen. Edward W. Snedeker, who won the Navy Cross on Okinawa, finished high school here in 1922; and Gov. Dave Heineman spent part of his boyhood here.

Highways and trails through Benkelman

Route	One way	Other way
US 34East–west through town, sharing about 3 mi with NE 61	East to Max (about 9 mi), Stratton and Trenton	West to Parks, Haigler and Wray, Colorado
NE 61Through town with US 34	North to Enders Reservoir, US 6 and Imperial	South to the Kansas line (K-161 toward Bird City)

Nearby towns

Max	about 9 mi east-northeast	US 34
Parks	about 10 mi west	US 34
Stratton	about 18 mi east-northeast	US 34
Haigler	about 21 mi west	US 34
Enders	about 28 mi north	NE 61
Wauneta	about 27 mi north-northeast	NE 61 and US 6
Imperial	about 33 mi north	NE 61
Trenton	about 29 mi east-northeast	US 34

Things to see

The Dundy County Courthouse, 112 W. 7th Ave., a 1921 brick and limestone courthouse on the National Register · the Zorn Theatre, 706 Chief St. (1928; National Register), with weekend movies and some Ward Bond memorabilia · the Dundy County Museum, 522 Arapahoe St., with a soda fountain · the General Custer in Nebraska historical marker in town and the Highway 34 Springs marker and rest area about 2 mi northeast · Benkelman Golf Course on US 34, beside the river, with a clubhouse made from a one-room school · the Dundy County Library, 6th Ave. E. · the Dundy County Fair in late July

Events in Benkelman

Dundy County Fair
Dundy County Fair, a county fair in Benkelman, Nebraska.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Dundy County-Stratton Public Schools: Benkelman Elementary (PK–6), 900 A St., and Dundy County-Stratton Junior/Senior High (7–12), 400 9th Ave. W., both in Benkelman

Health care: Dundy County Hospital, 1313 N. Cheyenne St., Benkelman, (308) 423-2204, a 12-bed critical access hospital, with the Quality Healthcare Services Medical Clinic on the same campus, (308) 423-2151

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Dundy County (1940); Stanley T. Johnson's Dundy County history series (Benkelman Post & News-Chronicle, 1981–82); Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society and NEGenWeb Dundy County; National Register of Historic Places (Dundy County Courthouse and Zorn Theatre nominations); History Nebraska and its historical markers; Federal Judicial Center; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Department of Revenue; Haigler Community Foundation; school, hospital and library websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.