Campbell Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Campbell Area Cameras

Village · Franklin County · Population 272 (2020 census) · ZIP 68932 · Founded 1886 · Peak population 573 (1910)

About Campbell

Campbell is a village of 272 in northeastern Franklin County, on NE 4 about a mile from the Webster County line and about 18 miles northeast of Franklin.

History

In July 1876 schoolmaster Franz W. Scheibel led 43 emigrants from the Volga German colony of Kolb out of Bremen; they landed in New York on August 5, and the Burlington carried them west to work on its Republican Valley line. They settled in dugouts near here, Scheibel organized St. Paul's congregation with its first communion in January 1877, and the 1880 census found 44 German-Russian households in the neighborhood. Norwegian settlers founded Zion Lutheran Church in 1876, and French-Canadian families came too. The St. Ann post office served the area until Campbell was platted for the railroad in 1886, named for a Mr. Campbell of the town-site company.

By 1890 Campbell had about 300 people, a flour mill and Congregational, Catholic and Methodist churches, and the village reached its largest population, 573, in 1910. Barney Koch, born here in 1923, played second base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944.

Highways and trails through Campbell

Route	One way	Other way
NE 4East–west through the village	East to Bladen, US 281 and Blue Hill	West to NE 10 and Ragan

Nearby towns

Bladen	about 7 mi east-northeast	NE 4
Upland	about 9 mi west	NE 4, NE 10 and S-31A
Holstein	about 12 mi north-northeast	County roads
Norman	about 13 mi north-northwest	County roads
Macon	about 13 mi west-southwest	NE 4 and NE 10
Riverton	about 14 mi south	County roads and US 136
Franklin	about 18 mi southwest	NE 4 and NE 10
Red Cloud	about 18 mi southeast	NE 4 and US 281

Things to see

St. Anne Catholic Church, 536 Stewart St. · Westminster United Presbyterian Church · the Campbell Public Library, 721 Broad St. · Koch-Cook (Russia Town) Cemetery and the other country cemeteries of the German-Russian settlers

Schools and health care

Schools: Campbell is in Silver Lake Public Schools: Silver Lake Elementary, 401 Webster St., Bladen, and Silver Lake High School, 9405 S. Lincoln Ave., Roseland

Health care: No clinic confirmed in Campbell; nearest hospitals: Franklin County Memorial Hospital, 1406 Q St., Franklin, (308) 425-6221, a 14-bed critical access hospital, about 18 mi, or Webster County Community Hospital, Red Cloud, about 18 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Franklin County (1940); NEGenWeb Franklin County and its county histories; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; SABR; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Department of Revenue; school, hospital, library and city websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.