Haigler Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Dundy County · Population 145 (2020 census) · ZIP 69030 · Founded 1882 · Peak population 535 (1930)

About Haigler

Haigler is a village of 145 in the southwest corner of Dundy County, on US 34 (Nebraska Avenue) about 21 miles west of Benkelman. Just north of town the Arikaree and the North Fork Republican meet to form the Republican River, and the corner where Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado meet is about 6 miles west. NE 27 runs a mile south to the Kansas line and on to St. Francis.

History

Jacob Haigler ran the Three Bar Ranch at the mouth of the Arikaree from the 1870s, and a post office called Arakan opened at the ranch on February 25, 1880, with Haigler as postmaster; it closed after he resigned. The Burlington named its station here for him when the line went through in 1882, and on October 5, 1882, a Haigler post office opened in James and Arabelle Porter's store, with Arabelle Porter as postmistress. Porter divided his land into lots, the town was platted in 1886, and the homestead rush that year brought a newspaper, the Haigler Reporter. Texas herds were delivered at Texas Trail Canyon, 4 miles east, for the drive north to Ogallala until about 1886.

Haigler reached its largest population, 535, in 1930. Scott O. Wright, born here on January 15, 1923, became a U.S. District Judge in Missouri and chief judge of the Western District from 1985 to 1990. The elementary school closed in 2013, and the Haigler Community Foundation, organized in 2014, bought the school and its 1936 gym for a community center and built a museum complex. In 2024 Blackshirt Feeders, about 7 miles north, began taking cattle; it is now permitted for up to 200,000 head.

Highways and trails through Haigler

Route	One way	Other way
US 34East–west through the village as Nebraska Avenue	East to Parks and Benkelman (about 21 mi)	West to Wray, Colorado
NE 27Begins at US 34 in Haigler	South about a mile to the Kansas line and K-27 to St. Francis	North end at US 34

Nearby towns

Parks	about 11 mi east	US 34
Benkelman	about 21 mi east	US 34
Max	about 29 mi east-northeast	US 34
Imperial	about 38 mi north-northeast	US 34 and NE 61

Things to see

The Haigler Community Foundation museums at US 34 and Porter Ave.: the Cornerstone Museum, a 1930s jail, an 1893 country schoolhouse, an art museum and a restored Conoco station that serves as the welcome center, open weekends from Memorial Day to mid-October · the Cornerstone Center, 251 E. Norman St., in the old school, with the Sunshine Thrift Shop · the Texas Trail Canyon historical marker, US 34 about 4 mi east · the Colorado–Kansas–Nebraska corner, about 6 mi west by gravel road and farm lane · the Arikaree and North Fork, which meet just north of town

Schools and health care

Schools: Haigler is in Dundy County-Stratton Public Schools; its schools are in Benkelman

Health care: No clinic in Haigler; nearest hospital: Dundy County Hospital, 1313 N. Cheyenne St., Benkelman, (308) 423-2204, a 12-bed critical access hospital, about 21 mi

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.