Marquette Nebraska

Village · Hamilton County · Population 236 (2020 census) · ZIP 68854 · Founded 1882 · Peak population 318 (1930)

About Marquette

Marquette is a village of 236 people (2020) in northern Hamilton County, at 1,821 feet just west of NE 14 by Spur 41C, about 10 miles north of Aurora and 8 miles south of Central City. Nearby are the Danish church at Kronborg, on the National Register, Gjerloff Prairie on the Platte River, Tooley Park’s river access and Timberlake Ranch Camp. Marquette is on Central Time.

History

Mrs. Nancy Carnahan kept a post office called Avon just south of the present town, and the Burlington & Missouri River built its line from Aurora to Central City in 1879–80. Early in 1882 the Lincoln Land Company bought 100 acres from J. W. Marquis and platted the town, whose main street is Marquis Avenue; on December 2, 1882, Avon moved in and was renamed Marquette, for Thomas M. Marquette, the Burlington’s attorney. The village incorporated on March 2, 1889. Fires in 1906 and 1910 burned both sides of the main street, and both were rebuilt in brick. Marquette peaked at 318 people in 1930. The psychologist J. P. Guilford, known for his work on intelligence and creativity, was born on a farm near Marquette on March 7, 1897.

Things to see

St. John’s Danish Lutheran Church at Kronborg, 3½ miles east (National Register 1992) · Gjerloff Prairie on the Platte, a Prairie Plains preserve with trails · Tooley Park (Platte River access)